Fairtrade Standards prohibit deforestation

Forests are critical for carbon sequestration, soil and water protection, diverse animal and plant life, and the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion folks globally. We need forests intact for both people and planet. And that's the thing of it—the well-being of people and planet are always connected because environmental sustainability is dependent upon economic and social sustainability. You can't have one without the other. That's why our Fairtrade Standards are clear; we prohibit deforestation.

To make sure that our Standards don't just live on paper, we actively collaborate with farmer partners to undertake risk assessments, create mitigation plans and implement deforestation monitoring. We also partner with FLOCERT, an independent certifier, to audit smallholder farming cooperatives and check for compliance with the Standards.

Fairtrade chocolate supports forest health

Want deets? Check out this study that examined the effect of Fairtrade on forest protection and deforestation prevention. 

⬇️ If you're hungry for chocolate that comes from folks who are stewarding forests, we've got some recommendations for ya.

• Hu Kitchen's Dark Hazelnut Butter bar is the stuff of legends. It's sweetened without refined sugars (h/t to Fairtrade coconut sugar!), and you can find it on-shelf at  Target, Whole Foods Market and Walmart.
• Endangered Species Chocolate's Milk Chocolate Caramel bar is ooey-gooey and deliciously decadent. Plus, the inside of the wrapper will teach you all sorts of fun facts about sloths! Be sure to look for it next time you're at Whole Foods Market and Giant. 
• Divine's Dark Chocolate Mint Crisp bar is a sophisticated and refreshing treat from the first farmer-owned Fairtrade chocolate brand. This means that cocoa farmers profit not only from the sale of their cocoa beans, but also from the sales of the chocolate bars that you can pick up at Rite Aid.
• Tony's Chocoloney's Dark Milk Chocolate with Brownie bar is a celebration with Ben & Jerry's about traceable, Fairtrade cocoa beans. What is dark milk chocolate? The creaminess of milk with the bite of dark. Get yours at Walmart and CVS.  
• Mid-Day Squares's Cookie Dough bar is for the functional chocolate afficionado, boasting fiber and 6 grams of plant protein. Head to the refrigerator section at Target or Whole Foods Market to satisfy your craving.
• Trader Joe's Fair Trade 72% Cacao Belgian Dark Chocolate bar is great for snacking AND for baking—we speak from experience! It is excellent in banana bread. But we digress. Get thee to a Trader Joe's stat!

Lest we miss the forest for the trees...

To truly be deforestation free, you'd have to do a lot more than NOT cut down trees.

Let's explore the myriad ways that Fairtrade holistically supports vibrant forests through a combination of economic, social and environmental interventions.

• addressing the root cause: One of the root causes of deforestation is poverty. Without fair prices it becomes incredibly challenging for farmers to prioritize long-term well-being over short-term survival. That's why fairer prices are a cornernstone of Fairtrade's work. Learn more about our unique pricing model, composed of the Fairtrade Minimum Price and the Fairtrade Premium. 
• strengethening co-ops: Trainings on topics like pruning and agroforestry are critical components of supporting healthy, vibrant forests. But in order for those trainings to be accessible to farmers, there must first be an infrastructure in place to reach them. As such, the main goal of Fairtrade's West Africa Cocoa Program is to strengthen smallholder farmer cooperatives by building robust systems and strategic leaders. The program began in 2014, and in 2023 alone, nearly 50,000 cocoa farmers participated in the West Africa Cocoa Program! The curriculum includes attention to deforestation, traceability and environmental due diligence, and the modules are specifically designed for the West African cocoa context.
• diversifying income: Changing weather patterns are decreasing cocoa yields, and this means that farmers can't put all their eggs in one basket—or their cash crops in one commodity, as it were. To keep forests intact, the move isn't to deforest in order to plant more cacao trees and maintain overall yields. Rather, it's to practice dynamic agroforestry by intercropping farms with other fruit-bearing trees, like cassava and cashews. 
• compliance cost-sharing across the supply chain: Geolocation mapping software is expensive—like, tens of thousands of dollars—and farmers shouldn't have to bear the cost alone. This is true on principle, and it's especially important given that 90% of cocoa farmers in Ghana live on less than $2 per day. That's why our Fairtrade Standards require other supply chain actors contribute to offset the cost of deforestation due diligence.
• data ownership: Fairtrade cooperatives own their deforestation monitoring data. This equips them to manage forest landscapes AND to share this data with commercial partners. This is in contrast to other models where larger firms cover the cost of the mapping software but retain ownership of the data. Why is this important? In the words of Jon Walker, Senior Advisor for Cocoa at Fairtrade International, "Whoever has the data has the key to market access." 

Did you learn something from this article? We'd love to keep the conversation going! In our monthly newsletter we share farmer stories and highlight Fairtrade products through giveaways, coupon codes and recipes.