Do so-called sustainable standards impoverish cocoa farmers? Interactions between deforestation, credit for fertilizer purchase and falling prices

Les standards dits durables appauvrissent-ils les planteurs de cacao ? Interactions entre déforestation en Côte d'Ivoire et au Libéria, crédit à l'achat d'engrais et baisse des cours

François Ruf ()
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François Ruf: UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: For centuries, combined with the work of migrants, forests and forest rent have been the main factors of production of cocoa. This is the universal cocoa model, which has made Côte d'Ivoire the world's leading producer. However, the level of deforestation is such that some of the cocoa smallholders must find alternatives to the forest rent, including mineral fertilizer, potentially a factor in improving yields and, a priori, their income. However, in case the "system" –made up of cocoa Transnational Corporations (TNCs), cooperatives, credit agencies, international non-governmental organizations and so-called "sustainable" cocoa labels – drives up the consumption of chemical fertilizers, will there not be a danger of the opposite effect taking place: contribution to the excess supply of cocoa, drop in world prices, and indebtedness and impoverishment of the smallholders? Based on three surveys of 150 to 250 growers between 2013 and 2017, a survey of 41 cooperatives in 2017, and the monitoring of cocoa and fertilizer prices over 30 years, this study addresses the role of the cocoa/fertilizer relative price and credit on fertilizer consumption and their impact on the drop in cocoa prices in 2016–2017. The impact is undeniable, even though the process of cocoa expansion through migration and deforestation remains the essential factor behind the increase in supply and the fall in price. The argument that yield gains will create "sustainable cocoa" and deter smallholders from clearing forests remains an illusion. Migration continues at the expense of the country's very last classified forests, east to Abengourou, west to Blolequin, Man and Touba. Again, despite their communication on sustainability and environment-friendly practices, certifications have totally failed. Cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire still depends heavily on deforestation. Finally, on the other side of the Cavally River, Liberia's large dense forest is disappearing in turn, on the way to a new cocoa boom. Even if public policies are partly responsible, what is left of "sustainability" in the certification and actions of the majority of TNCs? The gap between their virtual communication and reality has never been greater.

Keywords: engrais; Côte d'Ivoire; Libéria; agriculture durable; normes environnementales; revenu de l'exploitation; économie agricole; déboisement; Côte d’Ivoire; enquête sur les exploitations agricoles; coopérative agricole; Theobroma cacao; Cooperatives; Transnational corporations; Sustainable standards; Liberia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Published in Cahiers Agricultures, 2021, 30, pp.38. ⟨10.1051/cagri/2021024⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05177682

DOI: 10.1051/cagri/2021024

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