Summary
Côte d'Ivoire has seen extensive deforestation over the past decades. Cocoa farming, with 98 per cent of its production yielded by small holders, is one of the primary causes of deforestation in the country, making the cocoa production sector the key focus of the REDD+ mechanism. This discussion paper puts forward a Strategy for Reduced Encroachment of Cocoa Farming into Legally Protected State-owned Forests. It lays out five steps for the sector - public and private - to work together to achieve this in a way that would enable those who rely on the production of cocoa the most - smallholders - to gain the support they need to shift towards a more sustainable and profitable way of producing cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire.