Cameroon launches cocoa data platform to comply with EU deforestation-free rule.

Cameroon's cocoa production sector has agreed to create a digital platform for sharing georeferencing data on cocoa plantations in the country.

Georeferencing is the process of assigning locations to geographical objects within a specific frame of reference, such as a coordinate system, ensuring each location has a unique reference with a defined spatial resolution.

The platform, which is interoperable and controlled by Cameroon's Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council (CICC), is supported by Atlantic Cocoa Corporation, Neo Industries, Ofi Cam, Sic Cacaos, Telcar Cocoa, and the Cocoa and Coffee Subsectors Development Fund. 

The move aims to ensure the traceability of all cocoa beans produced in Cameroon, as well as to comply with a European Union legislation that would ban the entry of items cultivated on deforested or degraded land into the EU market. The law is set to take effect by the end of this year. 

The EU is Cameroon's largest market, receiving around 80% of the 185,613 metric tons of cocoa beans produced in the central African country during the 2023/2024 farming season. 

According to CICC authorities, the data sharing platform will centralise critical information on farmers, their locations, farms, productivity, sales, and so on. It would allow cocoa exporters to obtain coordinates for cocoa producers' farms. 

The portal would then immediately request the data from holders, as most cocoa estates have already been georeferenced by industry operators.

Apollinaire Ngwe, CICC executive president, explained that the system will provide operators in this sector and elsewhere with immediate access to precise and up-to-date data, allowing for more efficient supply chain management.

“This marks a significant step forward in technological integration and inter-professional collaboration,” Ngwe said.