Environmental assessment of the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain with statistics-based LCA

Introduction Cocoa is one of the main crops grown in Ecuador. The agricultural area dedicated to cocoa represents the largest area dedicated to a permanent crop the country. Dry bean production has grown at an average annual rate of 15% since 2014, mainly due to yield improvements and replacement of other crops. Several varieties of cocoa are grown, but production is dominated by two main varieties: “Cacao Fino y de Aroma” and clonal varieties (dominated by CCN-51). Cocoa, mainly in monocrop systems, is mainly produced on the Ecuadorian Coast (but also in the Highlands and Amazonia). This study presents a statistics-based LCA of the Ecuadorian cocoa value chain. Material and methods LCIs representing the various types of systems in each link of the value chain—i.e. the various types of farming systems, processing and distribution—were constructed in terms of representative production units. Sub-chains centred on different cocoa varieties and value-adding strategies were identified. Primary and secondary data were collected for the most representative system types, as defined in the actor typologies. Primary data were obtained via field visits and surveys, while secondary data were obtained mainly from statistical datasets of the National Institute of Statistics and Census. Impacts were computed following the European Commission's Product Environmental Footprint, while soil carbon turnover was modelled using RothC. Results and discussion Identified types of producers are subsistence and entrepreneurial small, medium, and large. Two post-harvest strategies were modelled: a volume-oriented one and a quality-oriented one. The main sub-chains identified are the volume/commodity-oriented one (which is dominantly based on cocoa which either does not undergo post-harvest, or which undergoes volume-oriented post-harvest activities) and the quality-oriented one. Across producer types, irrigation and negative direct field emissions are the most important factors, followed in importance by total energy consumption. Post-harvest and processing activities are dominated by energy expenditures. Sub-chains feature significantly different intensity of impacts, with the volume-oriented sub-chain (i.e. those privileging quantity over quality) featuring lower impacts than the quality-oriented ones. Conclusions The impacts of the value chain are comparatively lower, at least regarding climate change, than in other producing countries. Its agricultural phase generally exhibits low input pressure, contributes to climate change mitigation through high C sequestration in biomass that exceeds C losses due to land use change (e.g. deforestation), and does not seem to pose an immediate threat to biodiversity. Improvement initiatives do not necessarily imply intensification of production.