Hershey commits $2.5m to protect Cross River forests

The Hershey Company has committed $2.5 million (N3.45 billion) to a four-year conservation and sustainable cocoa production initiative in Cross River State, as efforts intensify to protect Nigeria’s largest remaining rainforest while supporting farming communities.

The partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), announced on Wednesday, will promote deforestation-free cocoa production, strengthen forest protection and improve the resilience of cocoa supply chains in one of Nigeria’s most important agricultural and biodiversity landscapes.

Cross River’s forests provide habitat for threatened wildlife, including the critically endangered Cross River gorilla, Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee, drill monkey and forest elephant. The state is also a major cocoa-producing region, accounting for nearly one-third of Nigeria’s cocoa exports, according to the organisations.

More than 100,000 households depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods in the landscape targeted by the initiative.

The partnership will bring together farming communities, government agencies, cocoa supply-chain actors and civil society organisations to promote climate-smart farming, agroforestry and community-based management of natural resources.

It will also seek to improve traceability across the cocoa supply chain to help prevent deforestation and prepare farmers and businesses for emerging market requirements, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation.

“This partnership demonstrates that thriving cocoa farming communities and healthy forests can go hand in hand,” said Inaoyom Imong, WCS Nigeria country director.

He said the initiative would help farmers improve productivity, build resilience to climate change and access new market opportunities while protecting the Cross River landscape’s forests and wildlife.

Balancing cocoa production and conservation

The initiative comes amid growing pressure on West Africa’s cocoa sector from climate change, constraints on farmers’ livelihoods and the need to maintain reliable supplies without expanding production into forests.

When farmers face declining productivity or insufficient incomes, pressure to cultivate additional land can increase the risk of forest conversion. The partnership aims to address some of these challenges by improving farming practices and strengthening the economic resilience of cocoa-growing communities.

“Too often, wildlife conservation and agricultural production compete. But when we get it right, we can achieve both,” said Joe Walston, WCS executive vice-president for global programmes.

He said the initiative would bring communities, conservation organisations and private-sector partners together to support sustainable cocoa production in a landscape that is important both for wildlife and regional agriculture.

Nigeria’s federal government welcomed the partnership as consistent with its efforts to develop a cocoa sector that supports economic growth while protecting forests.

Environment Minister Balarabe Abbas Lawal said the initiative supported national objectives on deforestation-free cocoa, improved farmer livelihoods and endangered-species conservation.

He described the partnership as an example of how private-sector investment could support government priorities, strengthen long-term supply stability and safeguard forests.

A major component of the initiative will be improving cocoa traceability, allowing supply-chain actors to better establish where cocoa is produced and whether its production is associated with deforestation.

The work is particularly relevant as the European Union Deforestation Regulation introduces requirements for covered commodities, including cocoa, to demonstrate that they were not produced on land deforested after December 31, 2020, alongside other applicable conditions.

Improved traceability and sustainable farming practices could help Nigerian producers and exporters respond to these requirements and preserve access to important international markets.

Hershey said the partnership formed part of its broader efforts to strengthen agricultural resilience. The company has committed to supporting one million hectares through regenerative agriculture and restorative or protective practices.

“The long-term resilience of cocoa depends on thriving farming communities and healthy landscapes,” said Tricia Brannigan, Hershey’s vice-president and chief procurement officer.

Angela Tejada Chavez, the company’s director of sustainable sourcing for cocoa, said Hershey would work with farmers, communities, government stakeholders and supply-chain partners to improve livelihoods and protect forests.

Building on two decades of conservation work

The partnership builds on more than 20 years of WCS conservation work in Cross River State, where the organisation collaborates with communities and government agencies to protect wildlife habitats, strengthen natural-resource governance and support sustainable livelihoods.

The organisations said the initiative would be developed as a landscape-level model that could be adapted for other cocoa-producing regions in Nigeria and beyond.

Its success will depend on whether improved farming practices and supply-chain oversight translate into stronger household incomes and measurable reductions in forest loss, while protecting habitats used by threatened species.

Inaoyom Imong, WCS Nigeria Country Director said: “This partnership with Hershey demonstrates that thriving cocoa farming communities and healthy forests can go hand in hand. Through a landscape-scale approach, we will help farmers improve productivity, build climate resilience, and access new market opportunities while safeguarding the globally important forests and wildlife of the Cross River landscape. We are excited to work with Hershey and other stakeholders to advance a forest-positive cocoa future in Nigeria.”