  C\^ote d'Ivoire and Ghana, the world's largest producers of cocoa, account
for two thirds of the global cocoa production. In both countries, cocoa is the
primary perennial crop, providing income to almost two million farmers. Yet
precise maps of cocoa planted area are missing, hindering accurate
quantification of expansion in protected areas, production and yields, and
limiting information available for improved sustainability governance. Here, we
combine cocoa plantation data with publicly available satellite imagery in a
deep learning framework and create high-resolution maps of cocoa plantations
for both countries, validated in situ. Our results suggest that cocoa
cultivation is an underlying driver of over 37% and 13% of forest loss in
protected areas in C\^ote d'Ivoire and Ghana, respectively, and that official
reports substantially underestimate the planted area, up to 40% in Ghana. These
maps serve as a crucial building block to advance understanding of conservation
and economic development in cocoa producing regions.
