Open Foris Arena User Meeting showcases innovative field applications on forests and beyond
November 17, 202525/11/2025
Cocoa is a vital source of income for millions of smallholder farmers across the globe and Cameroon — one of the world’s top three cocoa-producing countries in Africa. Yet cocoa production can also be linked to deforestation and forest degradation.
To address these challenges, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) under the European Union’s Sustainable Cocoa Programme is using satellite remote sensing, artificial intelligence and cloud technology to map land cover and assess the impact of cocoa on forests.
The Government of Cameroon with the support of the FAO Investment Centre, in collaboration with the European Union and the European Forest Institute and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, is organizing a workshop on 25 November 2025 in Yaoundé to present the progress results of the national land cover mapping with the participation of around 50 representatives from government entities, development partners, civil society and research institutions.
Mapping national land cover – baseline data for sustainability
The national land cover maps produced by a multi-institutional technical committee provide locally calibrated and validated information on tree cover, land cover to support due diligence for international regulations such as the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). To complement these maps, models estimating the probability of presence of agroforestry cocoa provide unprecedented insight into where cocoa is present across Cameroon. Developed using open-source solutions such as Open Foris SEPAL,Google Earth Engine, and the new AI models from Google’s DeepMind these maps will help assess cocoa production areas, even under dense agroforestry canopies.
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“The information being produced is a big step in enabling small-scale producers in Cameroon to access European markets for their cocoa products, while promoting best practices and sustainability,” said Fidèle Kengni, Agricultural Policy Specialist at FAO Cameroon and SCP focal point in the country.
Supporting sustainable cocoa and compliance with EU deforestation regulations
This initiative supports the Government of Cameroon in advancing sustainable cocoa production, traceability and legality, while helping stakeholders prepare for compliance with the EUDR. The project contributes to a fairer and more transparent cocoa supply chains, ensuring that production benefits farmers while promoting sustainable agroforestry systems.
During the three-day workshop, participants:
- Reviewed and interacted with the national land cover maps and accuracy assessments.
- Attended technical sessions on mapping methodologies and data analysis.
- Viewed live demonstrations of the WHISP and Open Foris Ground platforms.
- Strengthened national capacity in data management and validation.
- Discussed the use of data for policy planning and sustainable cocoa strategies.
The workshop shared free, open-source access to nationally produced and validated land cover products, marking a key milestone toward operationalizing due diligence for European deforestation regulations. These data and tools are relevant for all commodities, not only cocoa, and provide a common baseline dataset for government, private sector and civil society for decision-making, land use planning and better management of natural resources.
About the EU Sustainable Cocoa Programme
The EU Sustainable Cocoa Programme (SCP) is a joint initiative between FAO, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the European Forest Institute (EFI). The programme supports cocoa-producing countries — Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon — in enhancing the economic, social and environmental sustainability of cocoa value chains through policy support, technical assistance and actions addressing farmer incomes, deforestation and child labour.
🔗 Learn more: https://www.fao.org/investment-centre/about-us/how-we-work/investmentplanningpolicy/sustainable-cocoa-initiative/en
🔗 Explore the interactive map: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e7e146d12dbd41c5928b15c75df61590
This webstory was originally published here.
