Rubber Sustainability Pilot — Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber sector grew rapidly—APROMAC projected 650,000 tonnes in 2018 and 700,000 in 2019 from 300,000 hectares—yet production was dominated by smallholders in poverty and in regions with limited state presence. The pilot provided an overview of key sustainability risks and tested how a standard system could work for both small and large producers. It defined risk metrics and thresholds, set criteria for large producers, determined jurisdictions for supply bases, applied risk-based evaluations at jurisdiction and supply-shed levels using credible public data, and identified support strategies for producers. The work ran in three phases: pilot design (with at least one smallholder group and one plantation to build the risk matrix), field assessment and reporting, and analysis of priority issues and root causes.