2. Ground-truthing (1 January – 1 April) 1. The ground-truthing mission—led by the Tony’s Open Chain country
productivity lead—consist of two parts (cooperative level investigation and farm level investigation). Both investigations consist of questionnaires to the cooperative and the farmer that are completed digitally to facilitate data sharing and data quality. a. During the cooperative level investigation, Tony’s Open Chain aims to confirm the farm ownership, verify the existence of multiple farms for this producer (if applicable), and the size of all farms, among other checks. b. During the farm level investigation, a farm level questionnaire will gather detailed, site-specific information about farming practices, land use, any changes in vegetation cover on individual farms and potential overlap with protected and deforested areas. If a farmer or cooperative does not wish to participate in the ground-truthing process, the farmer concerned will remain excluded from the Tony’s Open Chain supply chain. In such cases, there will be no remediation support. 2. A consultation with competent authorities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire responsible for the management of the cocoa sector and for protection of protected areas will also take place when relevant, to verify the farm’s deforestation status according to their deforestation risk assessments. This will also include a check on whether the farm is compliant with forest protection laws, in case the farm is in a protected areas with legal permission to practice agriculture. 3. Remediation decisions are made by the Tony’s Open Chain country productivity lead and relevant specialists, in consultation with the farmer, and documented. The decision is reviewed by the Tony’s Open Chain “productivity and environment triangle” to align with the four eyes principle for best practice in assurance processes. At least one—different—member of the productivity and environment triangle reviews and approves the conclusions, ensuring thorough oversight and consensus. The productivity and environment triangle consists of: the environment & climate change specialist based in the
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