Toward Sustainable Cocoa Production in Brazil: Certification Systems and Sustainability Challenges in Bahia

Forest certification has become an important market-based tool for promoting environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, and improved governance across agricultural and forest production systems. This state-of-the-art (SotA) review examines forest and cocoa certification schemes in Brazil, focusing on cocoa-based agroforestry systems in southern Bahia. Major programs, including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Brazilian Forest Certification Program (Cerflor), Instituto Biodinâmico (IBD), UTZ Certified (UTZ), Rainforest Alliance (RA), and Geographical Indication (GI) systems, were analyzed for implementation, sustainability outcomes, and accessibility across producer groups. This SotA review identifies persistent barriers to certification adoption, including high costs, complex regulations, limited technical capacity, and unequal access among producers. Certification adoption varies substantially among producer groups, with cooperatives playing a critical role as intermediaries that reduce barriers and facilitate market access. Finally, this SotA review proposes a conceptual classification of cocoa producers and an AI-enabled perspective for deforestation-free certification in biodiversity hotspots such as southern Bahia, offering new insights into sustainable cocoa production and forest conservation.