31 March 2011: The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Rainforest Alliance have partnered with cocoa producers, small chocolate commercializing businesses and the chocolate industry to focus on improving the sustainability of cocoa production.

The GEF will contribute US$5 million to the project and help mobilize an additional US$15 million from co-financing partners to develop a public-private partnership with two leading chocolate manufacturers, Mars, Incorporated and Kraft Foods, and several major cocoa trading and processing companies. This is expected to have a positive effect on all actors within the value chain of cocoa, stabilize the cocoa price and increase the income for small producers.

Through this initiative, farmers will have access to training and technical assistance to enable them to implement sustainable agricultural practices, with a focus on earning the Rainforest Alliance Certified label for their products, or at least advance the training process to achieve this certification within the next six years.

The work will run for six years and focus on 10 countries that were chosen by the significance of their biodiversity, the interest of the industry in producing countries, and to ensure geographical spread. Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the Dominican Republic were selected in Latin America. Ivory Coast, Ghana, Madagascar and Nigeria were selected in Africa. And Papua New Guinea and Indonesia were selected in Asia. The project estimates that it will achieve an average annual sale of 165 thousand metric tons of sustainably produced cocoa. [GEF Press Release]