Green Commodities Facility - Investing in livelihoods and markets for sustainable development

The UNDP’s Green Commodities Facility helps countries finance and market climate-resilient cash crops, linking green commodities with markets and promoting public-private partnerships to transform supply chains. Its mission is to connect global markets with national governments and farmers in order to strengthen national capacity for scaling up sustainable agricultural production around the world. UNDP’s work on green commodities targets three challenges: the encroachment of farmland into natural habitats, the harmful effects of intensive agricultural production on biodiversity and ecosystems, and the high level of greenhouse gas emissions associated with commodity production. The Facility contributes to transformational change with innovative National Commodity Platforms that bring together stakeholders involved in a particular commodity value chain. The Platforms forge public-private partnerships and provide a mechanism for supply chain stakeholders to promote sustainability.

In Ghana, the Green Commodities Facility formed a strategic partnership with the private sector to support institutional efforts for sustainable cocoa production. The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership brings together Kraft Foods, the Government of Ghana, and several non-governmental organizations to promote the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the cocoa sector. The Partnership focuses on boosting incomes by helping farmers increase the quality and quantity of production; introducing new sources of rural income through microfinance and business support; and building government capacity for policy reform. The Green Commodities Facility acts as a special advisor to the National Cocoa Board in Ghana and helped develop Ghana’s first environmental strategy for the cocoa sector.