Environmental and social problems in global cocoa supply chains are likely to continue unless companies pay farmers substantially more for their beans, according to a major report on cocoa sustainability published on Wednesday.
The Cocoa Barometer, produced by the VOICE Network group of civil society organisations, found farmers in many cocoa-producing countries remain poverty stricken and unable to reduce levels of child labour and deforestation.
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The report comes a day after the European Union agreed a new law to prevent companies from selling into the EU products like cocoa and chocolate linked to deforestation around the world.
The law comes after decades of efforts by companies to clean up their supply chains through ‘certification schemes’ – or third party audits – have largely failed to have an impact.
A major part of the problem, according to the report, is that the schemes don’t commit to paying farmers a living wage, even if they do pay them a premium for cocoa certified as free from environmental and social harms.
