Societal dynamics of sustainability certification in Ghanaian cocoa producing communities: Assessing social cohesion effects and their implications for collective action

In the global cocoa-chocolate chain, sustainability certification became most widely applied industry tool to respond challenges, such as extreme poverty among cocoa producers, and related issues of child labor deforestation. This contribution analyzes how shapes broader social dynamics in targeted communities by applying concept cohesion. framework allows for discussion on appropriateness foster needed societal conditions community empowerment collective action, both which often regarded key a transition. Insights from informant interviews two Ghanaian Rainforest Alliance project indicate that there is an enhanced interaction between scheme participants leading new ingroup-outgroup patterns members. Further, while some informal institutions one particular group are negatively affected intervention, no effect communities’ overall cohesion was measured. Finally, despite contributing greening production, implements measures risk hamper spread action may dilute “societal glue” communities.