Project title: Advancing sustainable cocoa sourcing through a localised due diligence system
Project number: SMP-25009
Requesting country: Camaroon
Year: 2025
Budget: € 50,000
Project leader: Miralles Lorenzo
Knowledge institute: Wageningen University & Research
Project partners: Theobroma

Summary

EU Supply Chain Regulation -specifically the CSDDD and Forced labour Regulation (FLR)- require companies operating in the EU and their direct and indirect suppliers to increase their knowledge and develop (due diligence) systems. These systems aim to identify, assess, monitor and address (social and environmental) impacts across their value chains, ensuring effective measures are in place to prevent and address issues like forced labour, as required by the FLR. This project brings together three companies in the cocoa value chain, two NGOs and an impact measurement company in a pre-competitive collaboration to design and test effective due diligence systems tailored to smallholder cocoa production in Cameroon. The project zooms in at a relatively unexplored topic of forced labour in a new geography, with high sustainability risks but limited data. The aim of the project is to provide a replicable model for addressing social sustainability issues in similar contexts in line with legislative requirements.