Business
Ivory Coast to destroy Cocoa Crops in protected forests
Ivory Coast said it will start destroying cocoa crops that are grown in protected areas as the world’s top producer seeks to end the destruction of its forests.
The West African country had 16 million hectares of forests in 1960, but this has fallen to 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres), according to the government. The nation wants to recover 20 percent of its forest cover in the next 10 years.
The program to cut down trees will begin in the next 2 months, Forestry Minister Alain Richard Donwahi told reporters Friday in the commercial capital, Abidjan. Farmers are producing as much as 500,000 tons of cocoa per season in protected areas, he said.
The government will raise 616 billion CFA francs (US$1.1 billion) to roll out the program over the next 10 years, which includes the resettlement of farmers and research for the rehabilitation of forests, Donwahi said.
Ivory Coast produced more than 2 million tons in the season through September 2017.
Source: Bloomberg News