Ghana's cocoa landscape has changed dramatically in recent decades. Some areas which were once occupied with high-moisture forest have been grossly deforested, resulting in the gradual intrusion of grassland and changing micro-climatic conditions that are not capable of supporting profitable cocoa production. Current production practices are generally unsustainable and continue to worsen the cycle of environmental degradation, posing a significant threat to farmers' livelihoods. These unsustainable practices, which include continued crop expansion into forested areas and the use of unapproved chemical pesticides, are a potential roadblock to the long-term development of cocoa farming in Ghana.

At ESP, in partnership with Cocoa Life, we are working to address environmental sustainability issues in hundreds of Ghana's cocoa-growing communities. Our efforts center on conserving the natural ecosystems to maintain and provide viable environments and farmland for future generations. These efforts enable and encourage cocoa farmers to move toward more sustainable "green production" principles.

Partnerships across the cocoa production industry are crucial to the success of our long-term efforts. Therefore we work directly with government agencies, including the Forestry and Lands Commissions, the Land Administration Project (LAP), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), COCOBOD, Ghana Cocoa Platform (GCP), and other actors. Together, we implement national strategies for sustainable environmental management, including the UN programme to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), ensuring that field-level realities feed into national dialogues and policies.

The UNDP believes in incorporating community-based approaches to natural resources management in order to address problems at the broader regional level. To that end, we are piloting Community Resource Management Areas (CREMA) in 36 communities within the Asunafo North cocoa region. CREMAs serve as natural resource management and planning tools that are the basis for community initiatives.

One major initiative that Cocoa Life has supported is the reintroduction of native shade trees to cocoa farms as part of efforts to conserve biodiversity and enhance biophysical conditions on cocoa fields. Since 2014, more than 787,000 economic tree seedlings have been distributed to more than 9,600 cocoa farmers. It is gratifying to report that seedling planting and survival rates are about 90 percent and 95 percent, respectively.

Simultaneously, we're hosting farmer training workshops through the Cocoa Life program and in coordination with training programs developed by the COCOBOD. Community extension agents from COCOBOD and more than 1,400 cocoa farmers including chiefs, assemblymen, and women from the seven local districts have been trained on more sustainable farming practices.

As a result of ESP's efforts, cocoa farmers in the Cocoa Life operational areas are gradually moving away from their old farming methods, which placed no value on environmental sustainability, and embracing green production practices.