The cocoa and forest initiative: Ferrero’s action plan

Ferrero Group released its action plan to fulfill its commitment to the Cocoa and Forest Initiative signed between leading cocoa and chocolate companies and the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in 2017. The collective aim is to end deforestation, restore forest areas, and create better lives for farmers and their communities in these cocoa producing countries. 



In its action plan, Ferrero has identified key measures for both countries, which will range from continuing to foster the traceability and mapping of all supplying cocoa farms, to training cocoa farmers in good agricultural practices, as well as supporting the distribution and planting of multi-purpose trees. Please find the list of actions for Cote D’Ivoire here and for Ghana here. 



The measures in the action plan, which have been elaborated together with Ferrero’s suppliers, focus on three main areas defined by the Cocoa & Forests Initiative: forests protection and restoration; sustainable cocoa production and farmers’ livelihoods; and community engagement and social inclusion.



These activities form an integral part of Ferrero’s strategy to continue to address in a systemic way the challenges in the cocoa sector. 



Ferrero intends to update the action plan as the Ivorian and Ghanaian governments provide further reports and studies such as boundary maps for protected forests and updated operational guidance about land-use in degraded forest areas.