Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how the Government will ensure the $500m finance for tackling deforestation, announced by the Government at COP26, reaches and benefits farming communities in cocoa and banana growing regions in West Africa, Latin America and beyond.

The UK works with small farmers to improve livelihoods and prevent deforestation through Partnerships for Forests (P4F) (£120 million, 2015-23). The programme operates in Southeast Asia, East Africa, West Africa and Latin America. Across all of these regions, the programme supports partnerships between companies, farmers and communities, piloting new approaches to growing crops like palm oil, cocoa, coffee and soya, while improving livelihoods and protecting and restoring forests.

For example, in West Africa, UK funds support the implementation of agreements between the global cocoa industry and the Ghanaian and Ivoirian governments to eliminate deforestation and promote climate smart approaches to growing cocoa. Through this, farmers receive support to improve practices and eliminate deforestation from the cocoa supply chain. At COP26, the UK announced a £500 million, ten-year second phase of support to Partnerships for Forests, building on the experience of the first phase of the programme. Work is now underway to put this new funding commitment into place.