Deforestation risk due to commodity crop expansion in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Rapid integration of global agricultural markets and subsequent cropland displacement in recent decades increased large-scale tropical deforestation in South America and Southeast Asia. Growing land scarcity and more stringent land use regulations in these regions could incentivize the offshoring of export-oriented commodity crops to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We assess the effects of domestic-and export-oriented agricultural expansion on deforestation in SSA in recent decades. Analyses were conducted at the global, regional and local scales. We found that commodity crops are expanding in SSA, increasing pressure on tropical forests. Four Congo Basin countries, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire were most at risk in terms of exposure, vulnerability and pressures from agricultural expansion. These countries averaged the highest percent forest cover (58% ± 17.93) and lowest proportions of potentially available cropland outside forest areas (1% ± 0.89). Foreign investment in these countries was concentrated in oil palm production (81%), with a median investment area of 41 582 thousand ha. Cocoa, the fastest expanding export-oriented crop across SSA, accounted for 57% of global expansion in 2000-2013 at a rate of 132 thousand ha yr À1 . However, cocoa only amounted to 0.89% of foreign land investment. Commodity crop expansion in SSA appears largely driven by small-and mediumscale farmers rather than industrial plantations. Land-use changes associated with large-scale investments remain to be observed in many countries. Although domestic demand for commodity crops was associated with most agricultural expansion, we provide evidence of a growing influence of distant markets on land-use change in SSA.

Congo Basin peatlands: threats and conservation priorities

“…Of the 4.3 M ha of peatland in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo that has now been converted to plantations, 73% is occupied by oil palm plantations (Miettinen et al 2016). At present, Malaysia and Indonesia produce 85% of the world's palm oil (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service 2017), but with global demand set to increase and South East Asian productivity growth slowing (Wright and Rahmanulloh 2017), investment in oil palm in Africa is likely to increase in the coming years (Ordway et al 2017), especially when the arrival of large oil palm companies in the Congo Basin is backed by international funds and government incentives, such as tax breaks (The Rainforest Foundation UK 2013).…”

Governance of zero deforestation cocoa in West Africa: New forms of public–private interaction

“…However, recent studies show that increasing deforestation is attributable to cocoa production, especially in Africa, due to the shift in many countries towards full-sun cocoa production systems, which requires clearing most or all of naturally occurring trees (Ruf, 2011;Saj, Durot, Mvondo Sakouma, Tayo Gamo, & Avana-Tientcheu, 2017). Due to the smallholder nature of cocoa production, attributing deforestation to cocoa is challenged by the technological limits of spectrally distinguishing cocoa from forest, mixed crop, or monoculture systems using most satellite imagery, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (Curtis et al, 2018;Ordway, Asner, & Lambin, 2017); but estimates suggest that West Africa lost 2.3 million hectares of forest to cocoa cultivation between 1988 and 2007 (Gockowski & Sonwa, 2011). Further studies estimate that cocoa production accounted for 57% of agriculture-driven deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2013, and cocoa witnessed the highest expansion rate as compared with other exportoriented crops (Ordway et al, 2017).…”

“…Due to the smallholder nature of cocoa production, attributing deforestation to cocoa is challenged by the technological limits of spectrally distinguishing cocoa from forest, mixed crop, or monoculture systems using most satellite imagery, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (Curtis et al, 2018;Ordway, Asner, & Lambin, 2017); but estimates suggest that West Africa lost 2.3 million hectares of forest to cocoa cultivation between 1988 and 2007 (Gockowski & Sonwa, 2011). Further studies estimate that cocoa production accounted for 57% of agriculture-driven deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2013, and cocoa witnessed the highest expansion rate as compared with other exportoriented crops (Ordway et al, 2017). 3 In terms of underlying drivers of deforestation (Geist & Lambin, 2002), cocoa from West Africa is a cash crop destined almost exclusively for export markets (domestic consumption of chocolate in West Africa is minimal), explaining how deforestation is partly attributed to increasing global demand for cocoa and chocolate (Abdulai et al, 2018;Li & Mo, 2016).…”

“…From a global perspective, the deforestation associated with cocoa production is most pronounced in West Africa (Ordway et al, 2017;Saj et al, 2017). Cocoa from this region is grown primarily on small, family-owned farms; the West African cocoa belt comprises about 2 million smallholders who depend on cocoa sales for food and income security (Kroeger, Bakhtary, et al, 2017;Schroth et al, 2016).…”

Pathways to Deforestation-Free Food: Developing supply chains free of deforestation and exploitation in the food and beverage sector

“…22 Increasing land scarcity and more stringent regulations in the Brazilian Amazon and Indonesia are creating pressure to shift production of commodities that contribute to deforestation to other regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. 23 For instance, the expansion of palm oil, sugar and cocoa production in West Africa has resulted in an upward trend of deforestation and forest degradation. New research shows that Latin America is one of the most vulnerable regions to deforestation from palm cultivation.…”