Standing up for forests and farmers

Mighty Earth expresses concern over the Ivorian government's plan to empty protected areas of inhabitants to combat deforestation, noting that 1.5 to 2 million people in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana live in such areas. The organization highlights a history of abuses during evictions and argues that the global chocolate industry, which funded illegal cocoa production, has a moral responsibility to compensate expelled farmers.

• Côte d’Ivoire has experienced severe deforestation, with forest cover dropping from 50 percent of its territory in 1900 to less than 12 percent in 2015, including a loss of 85 percent of its forests since 1990.
• The cocoa industry is a primary driver of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire, with government estimates suggesting that 30 to 40 percent of cocoa is sourced from protected forests.
• The Ivorian government's plan to strictly enforce laws banning farming in protected forests may lead to the eviction of thousands of small-scale farmers; an estimated 1.5 to 2 million cocoa farmers live in protected forests and national parks across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
• Past eviction operations in Côte d’Ivoire have been characterized by human rights abuses, including corruption, extortion, and physical violence by government agents, leaving families without food, shelter, or education.
• Mighty Earth asserts that the $100-billion-a-year chocolate industry is morally responsible for financing solutions and humanitarian aid for expelled farmers because it ignored forest destruction and funded illegal production.

APA

Jones, S., Wormington, J., & Higonnet, E. (2019). Standing up for forests and farmers. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/standing-up-for-forests-and-farmers/

Chicago

Jones, Sydney, Jim Wormington, and Etelle Higonnet. Standing up for forests and farmers. Mighty Earth, 2019. https://mightyearth.org/article/standing-up-for-forests-and-farmers/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Jones |first1=Sydney |last2=Wormington |first2=Jim |last3=Higonnet |first3=Etelle |title=Standing up for forests and farmers |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=12 July 2019 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/standing-up-for-forests-and-farmers/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{jones2019standing, author = {Jones, Sydney and Wormington, Jim and Higonnet, Etelle}, title = {{Standing up for forests and farmers}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/standing-up-for-forests-and-farmers/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }