Stakeholders sensitized on European Union Deforestation Regulation(EUDR) in Nyinahin
A District Forest Forum dubbed “Fostering partnership to safeguard our forest” was organized to educate stakeholders on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)with support from ClientEarth. The meeting recorded participants from Atwima Mponua District Assembly, Forestry Service Division - Nkawie, MOFA, COCOBOD, Cocoa Health Extension Division (CHED), Ghana National Fire Service, Farmer cooperatives, Community Extension Agents, Licensed Buying Companies and farmers spanning from 22 communities in the Atwima Mponua District.Mrs. Doreen Asumang-Yeboah (Executive Director-RAIN), in her presentation sensitized participants on the concepts of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). She mentioned that, the EUDR is a regulation on deforestation free commodities that prohibits operators and traders from placing on the EU market or exporting from the EU, certain commodities (cocoa, soy, coffee, rubber, beef, timber and palm) unless they are deforestation free, produced in compliance with local laws and must be covered by a due diligence statement. She then emphasized that the EUDR came into force on 29 June 2023 and its main obligations will apply to all in-scope companies (other than micro-undertakings or small undertakings) from 30 December 2024, and to micro-undertakings or small undertakings from 30 June 2025.
Key discussions centered on COCOBOD’s perspective and readiness for the regulation’s implementation. Mr. Kanuba (District Cocoa Extension Officer) stated that the cocoa sector has measures in place to meet the conditions of the regulation and these include:
1. Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS) which aims to provide full digitized physical and financial traceability from farm to point of export.
2. Cocoa Management System (CMS) which manages farm information and has completed a national cocoa farmers’ registration exercise and mapping of cocoa farms., including GPS coordinates. Large trading cocoa companies have developed their own traceability systems, primarily focusing on tracking cocoa from their direct supply chains and mostly back to the first point of purchase (LBCs).
3. Development of a deforestation risk assessment module (DRM) that will link cocoa supply chain data to forest cover and protected area information.
4. Developing a Cocoa Sector Child Labour Monitoring System, which will be linked to the National Child Labour Monitoring System for the reporting and referral of cases.
He further took participants through sustainable cocoa practices such as; cocoa rehabilitation, supply chain mapping and risk assessment, smart agricultural production, productivity enhancement programmes such as pruning, soil fertility management, pollination and pest management to desist framers from expanding into forest reserves.
Mr. Richard Agyei Boahen (Quality Control Officer, COCOBOD), advised farmers not to use mosquito treated net to ferment cocoa. He added that cocoa beans that certify the EUDR requirements are sustainable cocoa and would end up on the EU market but for cocoa beans that do not certify the EUDR requirements are conventional cocoa and cannot be on the EU market.
