actu UESeptember 3, 2026

Cocoa farmers in southern Cameroon are adapting to new European Union rules on deforestation, but they say the extra work must come with a fairer price for their crop. In the village of Ekombitié, around forty producers met to discuss better agroforestry practices. The European Union deforestation regulation is due to take effect next year. It requires cocoa and cocoa products imported into the European Union to be deforestation-free, fully traceable, and legally produced.

The farmers say they are ready to comply. But they are worried because cocoa prices have fallen sharply. According to Cameroon’s National Cocoa and Coffee Board, prices reached as much as five thousand four hundred Central African CFA francs per kilogram in the twenty twenty four to twenty twenty five season. By July ninth this year, cocoa was trading between two thousand seven hundred fifty and two thousand eight hundred fifty Central African CFA francs per kilogram. That is less than half the level reported three years ago.

The article focuses on growers such as Paul Mbarga Junior and village chief Issah Naimuaforkang Kinyui. Kinyui says agroforestry and improved farming methods helped raise his annual yield from three to ten one-hundred-kilogram bags on a four-hectare farm. Farmers say they avoid cutting all trees in a growing area. They preserve medicinal and fruit trees, and remove trees they consider harmful to cocoa production.

Bernadette Ondobo, vice-president of the Scoops-PROCAM cooperative, says her cooperative is already producing certified cocoa under standards meant to protect the environment, people, and the cocoa bean. She says the European rules could help preserve farms for future generations. But, like other farmers, she wants the effort to bring better earnings.

The World Wide Fund for Nature is helping cooperatives prepare. Its teams are explaining the regulation, mapping farms, supporting land documents, and setting up traceability systems so buyers can know where cocoa comes from. The group has also built a solar dryer and storage facilities for the Ekombitié community cooperative to help improve bean quality.