Policy: Farm and Supply Chain Certification in Cocoa in West and Central Africa v3.3

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.2.1, the following requirement applies to all CHs:

1. Certificate Holders (CHs) and farmers must comply with all regulatory directives and policies issued by the government or sector regulator in their respective countries, including but not limited to the CCC, COCOBOD, and ONCC.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.2.3, the following requirement applies to all CHs in Ghana:

1. Certificate Holders in Ghana must provide national identification numbers in the Group Member Registry (GMR) as follows:

   1. At least 40% of group members must have their National ID numbers recorded in the GMR by the first certification audit.

   2. At least 60% of group members must have their National ID numbers recorded in the GMR by the first surveillance audit.

   3. By the second certification audit, CHs must develop and implement a plan to achieve a 100% national identification coverage of group members in four years.

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.2.3, the following requirement applies to all CHs in Cote d’Ivoire:

2. Group members in Côte d’Ivoire must obtain a CCC identification card within the timeline established by the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC). Certificate Holders must meet this requirement as follows:

   2. For each group member with a CCC identification card, CHs must record the CCC unique identification number in the Group Member Registry.

   3. If the CCC unique identification number is unavailable, the Certificate Holder must demonstrate that the group member is registered with the relevant CCC regional office or delegation.

   4. CHs must record the CCC unique identification numbers for all group members in the Group Member Registry by the end of the second certification cycle.

Note: See the annex for detailed instructions on collecting national ID numbers from group members.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.4.3, the following requirement applies to all CHs:

1. CHs must maintain a list of all sanctioned group members, including details such as name, internal farm ID, national ID (if available), phone number, farm size, production, previous harvest volume sold, GPS coordinates, and reason for sanction. This list must be shared with the Certification Body (CB) as part of the audit preparation documents and submitted by the CB to the Rainforest Alliance together with the other audit documents.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.4.3, the following requirement applies to all CHs:

For an extension of group members, the following conditions apply:

1. For groups with fewer than 2000 members, the total membership may increase by no more than 30 percent during the audit year compared to the total number of group members from the previous audit year, including certification, surveillance, and extension audits.

2. For groups with more than 2,000 members, total membership may increase by no more than 10 percent during the audit year compared to the total number of members from the previous audit year, including certification, surveillance and extension audits.  

Applicability:

The following requirement completely replaces SAS requirement 1.2.10 for all CHs in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire:

1. Certificate Holders in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire must provide 100 percent polygons for all cocoa farm units, regardless of certification year. These polygons must be uploaded to the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform before the next audit and will be used to generate risk assessments for deforestation and encroachment into protected areas.

The following requirement completely replaces SAS requirement 1.2.10 for all CHs in Cameroon, RC, DRC and Nigeria:

2. Certificate Holders in Cameroon, RC, DRC and Nigeria must provide polygons for 80 percent of all cocoa farm units by the next audit and for 100 percent of farm units by the following audit. The remaining farm units must have at least a geolocation point.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 1.3.3, the following applies to all CHs in Cote d’Ivoire:

1. Any consulting firm or consultant engaged by a Certificate Holder in Côte d’Ivoire to support certification-related activities must be approved by the Rainforest Alliance or the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC).

2. Training on the applicable Standard(s) and related certification documents must be provided by the Rainforest Alliance or its approved Associate Trainers. Contracts must include post-audit support to address any non-conformities identified during the audits. Associate Trainers must provide annual training to each group’s IMS staff, including group management, trainers, technical staff, and internal inspectors.

3. The IMS staff must train at least 50 percent of group members each year on the relevant topics covered by the Standard(s). All group members must complete the required training within each three-year certification cycle.

4. Group members must complete their final training on the Standard(s) or any certification-related process at least three months before the audit start date.

5. All CHs must complete the training monitoring file, including trainer names, topics covered, and training dates. This documentation must be shared with the Certification Body and the Rainforest Alliance before the audit.

Applicability:

The following requirement completely replaces SAS requirement 1.4.1 for all CHs:

Management has an internal inspection system in place to annually assess compliance of actors within the scope of certification. The system includes:

• Group members' farms, processing and/or storage sites and any other actors such as subcontractors, intermediaries, collection points/purchasing centers, warehouses or service providers.

• All actors are inspected internally before the first certification audit.

• In the first year of certification, the internal inspection covers all applicable requirements of the Standard(s).

• After the first certification audit, internal inspection covers:

  • At least 50 percent of the small farms ensuring all small farms are inspected after two years.

  • For farms with multiple farm units, the selection of the unit for inspection is based on risk. Priority is given to units that have not been previously inspected.

• All new actors are internally inspected before they join the group.

• An internal inspector is permitted to conduct inspections on not more than eight (08) farms per day.  

Applicability:

The following requirement completely replaces SAS requirement 3.1.3 for all CHs in Cote d’Ivoire:

1. For Cote d’Ivoire, the CCC has established a minimum premium of XOF 70,000 per metric ton. This premium is to be distributed equally: 50 percent of the amount received be provided directly to group members in cash or another accessible monetary payment, while the remaining 50 percent is allocated to the Group. These amounts may be adjusted if the CCC changes the regulations concerning premium.

The following requirement completely replaces SAS requirement 3.1.3 for all CHs in Ghana, Cameroon, RC, DRC and Nigeria:

2. For other countries covered by this policy, a minimum of US$70 per metric ton (or €64 per metric ton for African countries using XOF or XAF), or 40 percent of the total monetary premium received by the Farm CH—whichever amount is greater—must be distributed to the group members.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 5.1.1, the following applies to all CHs in Cote d’Ivoire:

1. Certificate Holders in Côte d’Ivoire must print and display the poster on the “Reporting and referral system for child labor cases,” developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Family, Women and Children. The poster must be displayed at all times in central locations.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 6.1.2, the following applies to all CHs in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria:

Production or processing activities are not permitted in protected areas or their designated buffer zones unless they fully comply with applicable legal requirements. Certification is not granted to producers operating in Protected Areas (PAs) designated as “no-go” zones, and groups must exclude members located in these areas from their certification scope. Producers in PAs classified as “go” zones may qualify for certification if specific conditions are met. To demonstrate that agricultural activities are permitted in these zones, farmers must provide the following documents to the Certification Body and the Rainforest Alliance upon request:

1. Côte d’Ivoire:

   1. The CH must provide the presidential decree issued by the government that creates the enclave.

   2. The CH is required to submit the presidential decree issued by the government that creates the agroforest and the government approved development plan of the agroforest.

2. Ghana:

   1. The CH is required to submit the allocation document issued by the Forestry Commission of Ghana, confirming that the designated area has been assigned to the farmer. The farmer is responsible for complying with and implementing all actions outlined in the management plan for the protected area.

3. Cameroon:

   1. The CH is required to submit a ministerial decree of forest attribution, a current version of the management plan approved by MINFOF, or a memorandum of understanding demonstrating that the authorities have granted permission for agricultural activities within the protected area.  

4. Nigeria:

   1. The CH must submit a permit from the Department of Forestry of the Ministry of Environment showing the assigned farm area and farmer.

Note: More information on protected areas can be found in Guidance D. Geolocation Data Requirements and Risk Maps.

Applicability:

In addition to SAS Requirement 6.2.3, the following applies to all CHs in Côte d’Ivoire:

1. The CCC requires every cocoa farm in Côte d’Ivoire to maintain between 25 and 40 shade trees per hectare. All CHs operating in Côte d’Ivoire must develop a plan to reach this recommended number of shade trees per the CCC guidelines.

Applicability:

Description:

The number of group members that have been trained per topic over the period prior to the audit. It serves as an indicator of how many individuals have been adequately prepared for the correct implementation of standard requirements.

Data collection:

• Collected as a numerical value.

• Count the total number of group members who completed training on specific topics, based on participant attendance records.

• If a training topic is covered across multiple sessions, only participants who attended all sessions and completed the full training are included in the count. For instance, if a training consists of three sessions and a participant attends only two, that participant is excluded from the final count.

• Data is reported from the year preceding the audit.

Applicability:

Description:

The total number of cocoa seedlings distributed by the CH to group members, used to evaluate farmers' access to high quality planting materials at group level.

Data collection:

• Collected as a numerical value.

• Count of the total number of cocoa tree seedlings distributed to or group members.

• Data is reported from the year preceding the audit.

Applicability:

Description:

The total number of group members who received cocoa seedlings from the CH, used to assess the degree of access to high-quality planting materials among group members.

Data collection:

• Collected as numerical value.

• Count of the total number of group members who received cocoa seedlings.

• Data is reported from the year preceding the audit.

Applicability:

Description:

The total number of shade tree seedlings distributed by the CH to group members during the reporting period, used to assess support provided for agroforestry practices.

Data collection:

• Collected as a numerical value.

• The total number of shade tree seedlings distributed to group members.

• Data is reported from the year preceding the audit.

Applicability:

Description:

The total number of group members who received shade tree seedlings during the reporting period, used to evaluate the level of agroforestry-related planting material support provided to group members.

Data collection:

• Collected as a numerical value.

• Count of the total number of group members who received shade tree seedlings.

• Data is reported from the year preceding the audit.

Applicability: