A small organization based in Yorkshire, UK is assisting women in the Democratic Republic of Congo to grow high quality cocoa and improve their livelihoods while protecting the environment.

The Yorkshire Post reports on the Lorna Young Foundation’s latest project to address deforestation and poverty by working with women’s co-operatives in North Kivu district, DRC and Dutch chocolatier Original Beans.

The cocoa is produced on land that has not been cleared and the families adopt agroforestry practices to grow local crops such a cassava and banana alongside cocoa.

North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is home to Virunga National Park and endangered mountain gorillas. It is an area of high conflict that has led to displaced communities, poverty and increasing deforestation of mature rainforest.

Cocoa can be grown in the forest without destroying it, offering local farmers a way to earn a living without degrading the environment.

Says Cristina Talens from the foundation, “ethical trade enables people to earn a living and protect their environment”.

The female cooperatives in North Kivu produce about 2,000 tonnes of cocoa each year, one fifth of the country’s annual production. Original Beans uses this cocoa to make Cru Virunga, an organic dark chocolate.

“We’re creating a high quality product, and we’re paying farmers in the co-ops to mitigate the impact of deforestation and climate change,” says Talens.

Read the full story: Chocolate making life sweeter for poor women in a forest war zone