Cocoa expansion around Ghana’s protected areas is associated with food crop displacement and forest loss inside them

Abstract Cocoa farming is a major driver of deforestation in West Africa. While sustainability policies like zero-deforestation commitments aim to reduce forest loss from cocoa, they overlook a critical gap. When cocoa expands onto existing farmland, farmers may shift food-crop cultivation into nearby protected forest reserves instead. We analysed satellite imagery and farmer interviews in Ghana to test whether this land displacement occurs and whether sustainability programmes prevent it. From 2000 to 2019, areas with more intensive cocoa farming were associated with greater forest loss inside reserves from food crop cultivation. In 2022–2024, villages with greater exposure to sustainability programmes showed reduced forest loss. Agroforestry (growing shade trees on cocoa farms) showed no protective effect, likely due to minimal adoption. These associations suggest current policies fail to address indirect deforestation from land displacement and highlight the need for land use governance addressing both direct and indirect pressures from cocoa.