| Sumario: | This report assesses the outcomes of Zero Deforestation Agreements (ZDAs) in Colombia, voluntary and market-oriented public–private initiatives implemented since 2017 to reduce deforestation across key agricultural supply chains. It was elaborated under the CGIAR Climate Action Science Program. The analysis is situated in a post-conflict context characterized by accelerated deforestation driven by frontier expansion, land grabbing, and weak enforcement, which poses a challenging setting for voluntary sustainability initiatives. The study applies a mixed qualitative and institutional analysis grounded in a theory-of-change framework, drawing on stakeholder interviews, document review, and comparative sectoral analysis to examine governance, coordination, and behavioral outcomes of ZDAs in the beef and dairy and cocoa supply chains. Results show that in high-risk and fragmented sectors such as beef and dairy, ZDAs have had limited capacity to generate direct and measurable reductions in forest loss. Their main contributions have been institutional, including improved coordination, information sharing, learning processes, and emerging norms around deforestation-free production. However, weak traceability, misaligned incentives, and strong frontier dynamics continue to constrain their effectiveness. In contrast, in the cocoa sector, characterized by high organizational coverage and agroforestry-compatible production systems, ZDAs have been more effective in consolidating low-deforestation pathways, reinforcing sustainable production models, and facilitating alignment with emerging international due diligence and traceability requirements. The conclusions highlight that ZDAs function best as governance instruments embedded within broader environmental and agricultural policy frameworks rather than as stand-alone solutions. Their effectiveness depends on complementary regulatory baselines, credible economic incentives, and long-term financial commitments. When matched to sector-specific realities, ZDAs can either remain limited to pilot impacts or consolidate sustainable, deforestation-free production trajectories.
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