Cocoa

Cocoa traceability is no longer a future requirement. For EU buyers, it is now a condition for market access.

In Nigeria, Palmyra deployed a ground-level cocoa traceability system built through direct, in-person onboarding of farmers, not remote forms or self-reported data. This approach ensures that farmers and their cocoa are genuinely eligible for the European market under the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

This case study shows how traceability was implemented physically, at scale, and aligned with real sourcing needs.

Making farmers EUDR-eligible through in-person onboarding

EUDR compliance starts at the human level.

Palmyra teams went on the ground, working face-to-face with farming communities to onboard more than 1,500 smallholder cocoa farmers in person. Each farmer was verified directly, with identity, ESG indicators, and production details captured on site.

This was not a digital sign-up exercise. It was a physical onboarding process, designed to ensure accuracy, trust, and adoption in rural environments where connectivity is limited.

By onboarding farmers directly, Palmyra ensured that producers were not excluded by default as regulations tighten — instead, they were formally brought into a system that makes their cocoa EUDR-eligible.

Mapping farms at the source

Eligibility under EUDR also requires verifiable proof of where cocoa is grown.

As part of the rollout, Palmyra teams physically onboarded more than 1,500 cocoa producers, capturing GPS coordinates and land-use data directly at plot level. This creates defensible, auditable evidence that cocoa production is not linked to deforestation.

For buyers, this replaces declarations and assumptions with geospatial proof tied to each farmer and lot.

Preserving eligibility through real trade

Traceability must survive real market conditions to be meaningful.

Rather than disrupting existing supply chains, Palmyra worked directly with Licensed Buying Agents (LBAs) already operating in the region. When cocoa is delivered, both farmer and buyer confirm price and weight in the system, creating a permanent transaction record linked back to a verified farmer and a mapped farm.

This ensures that EUDR eligibility is preserved beyond the farm gate — through aggregation and into commercial trade.

Aligning participation with farmer incentives

Onboarding and compliance were reinforced with tangible benefits.

Farmers who completed verification became eligible for locally supported empowerment inputs, helping strengthen productivity while reinforcing long-term participation in compliant supply chains.

This approach increased adoption while improving data quality and trust across the system.

Export-ready, EUDR-eligible cocoa

Through in-person onboarding, farm mapping, and verified transactions, Palmyra transformed cocoa production from informal and unverified to export-ready by design.

More than 1,500 farmers and their cocoa production are now eligible for EU markets under EUDR requirements, supported by structured data that simplifies due diligence for importers.

For buyers, this means lower regulatory risk, faster onboarding, and confidence that sourced cocoa will remain eligible beyond 2025.

From field deployment to scalable sourcing

This rollout demonstrates that EUDR compliance does not require exclusion or abstraction.

By physically working with farmers, integrating local buyers, and capturing verifiable data at origin, Palmyra established a sourcing model that is both compliant and scalable.

This is traceability done properly:
on the ground, with real farmers, producing cocoa that can legally and confidently reach Europe.