Major step in CAFI-Cameroon partnership: First $20 million project approved to support transition to deforestation-free agroecological practices

A first US$20 million project funded by the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) will support Cameroon’s small-scale cocoa and coffee producers adapt to the new European Union (EU) regulations, so that they continue exporting to the EU while they transition to deforestation-free agroecological practices based on sustainable principles. The initiative will be implemented by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in collaboration with Cameroon’s Coffee and Cocoa Development Fund (‘FODECC’ in French), a unique funding tool created by Cameroon to support small-scale producers in their agro-ecological coffee and cocoa production. Although regarded as a major step in the global fight against deforestation, the new European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), which took effect in June 2023, introduces some requirements, such as the prohibition of imports to the EU market of commodities that were produced illegally, particularly those from ...