A collaborative path to sustainable supply chains: learning from Ghana’s national systems
ISEAL brought together stakeholders from Ghana's cocoa and timber sectors in Accra for the partner workshop, Building Bridges for Sustainable Supply Chains, supported by the UK government's Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme. The workshop explored how Ghana's national systems are evolving to meet shifting global market expectations while supporting broader forest governance and national development priorities.
Presentations from the Forestry Commission and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) highlighted Ghana’s progress in strengthening national legality and sustainability systems for timber and cocoa through extensive digital traceability systems.
In the timber sector, Ghana reached a historic milestone as the first African nation to issue a FLEGT licence in 2025. This milestone was supported by the Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System (GhLAS) and its digital backbone, the Ghana Wood Tracking and Decision Support System (GWT-DSS), which tracks timber from stump to market.
In the cocoa sector, the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS) is being rolled out nationally to support traceability and compliance with international requirements such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), enabling cocoa to be traced from farm plot to port.
Data and traceability as cornerstones of credible systems
A central theme of the workshop was Ghana’s national system architecture and the need to connect what was previously siloed data functions relating to forest monitoring, land registries, producer identification and export controls.
Interoperable systems, continued sensitisation, strengthened capacity and sustainable financing emerged as important elements in developing practical, inclusive national systems that support market access without placing disproportionate costs on producers.
The role of transparency and participation
Transparency and participation emerged as important themes, helping to build stakeholder trust and confidence in the GhLAS throughout its development under the FLEGT VPA process. Civil society’s involvement in governance bodies, forest governance reforms and forest monitoring helped strengthen the legitimacy of the national system.
The discussions reinforced the importance of equipping civil society organisations (CSOs) with the technical and legal capacity needed to fulfil an effective oversight role.
Meaningful engagement with CSOs can support more inclusive governance and stronger multi-stakeholder ownership of national systems and help move reforms from administrative guidelines to binding, constitutionally sound regulation.
Integrity and assurance: building confidence for the future
Discussions highlighted the importance of strengthening data verification and assurance within Ghana's national systems to build confidence among markets, investors, civil society and affected communities, while ensuring systems can continue to adapt to changing regulatory expectations, including the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Running through the discussions was a shared recognition of the opportunity to strengthen bridges between national and voluntary sustainability systems, drawing on the strengths, experience and lessons of each.
Greater interoperability, shared learning and complementary approaches to assurance were identified as important steps towards maintaining market confidence, supporting continued access to international markets and creating more credible, effective and resilient pathways towards sustainable supply chains.
We look forward to sharing a public workshop summary with key takeaways in the coming weeks.