Monitoring cocoa-driven deforestation: The contexts of encroachment and land use policy implications for deforestation free cocoa supply chains in Ghana

Abstract

This research analyzed cocoa deforestation within the framework of land-use policies to support efforts to implement deforestation-free cocoa commitments in Ghana. Land-use maps for 1986, 1999, and 2017 were used to explore cocoa deforestation around three contexts: (1) Gross deforestation – forest conversions irrespective of the legal provisions governing land use; (2) Forest reserves encroachment - conversions within forest reserves; and (3) ‘Admitted farms’ and off-reserve deforestation - conversions within the framework of applicable national legislative provisions. The results showed 90.71% ‘admitted farms’ and off-reserve deforestation, and 9.29% forest reserve encroachments. The conversions in the off-reserve and ‘admitted farm’ constitute land-use decision-making conforming to the Forests act 1927 and the Land Use and Spatial planning act 2016. Thus, we seek to argue the following: (1) the dynamics of deforestation should be situated within the land use policy provisions; (2) The use of gross deforestation as the basis for any legislative due diligence provision would be at variance with national legislation and might pose difficulties in achieving the deforestation-free objectives; (3) Gross deforestation should be separated from admitted farm, and off-reserve deforestation. Once this is done, stakeholders will be able to formulate targeted response interventions to address cocoa-led deforestation.