Not So Good News For Those With Sweet Tooth – Climate Change Has Increased Chocolate Prices

Chocolate lovers are paying the price for climate change and global warming. Cocoa farmers bear the brunt of increasing planet’s temperatures. Two new reports highlight the threat that climate change poses to cocoa trees and how it’s impacting chocolate prices around the world.

The first report, by research organisation Climate Central, found that climate change added six extra weeks of temperatures beyond cacao’s optimal growing conditions in four key cacao-producing countries of West Africa which account for 70% of global production.

The second report, published by UK NGO Christian Aid, notes that cocoa prices have increased 400% in recent years and connects this with drought and heavy rainfall events in West Africa.

Farmers’ associations note that despite skyrocketing prices of chocolate globally, cocoa farmers see little benefit. On average, only 6% of the price paid for a chocolate bar goes to farmers, a situation that limits their capacity to adapt to the increasing challenges of climate change. Currently, only 0.3% of climate finance is spent on small-scale family farmers. Small-scale family farmers produce a third (32%) of the world’s food yet only 0.3% of international climate finance was spent helping them adapt in 2021, reveals new analysis by The research, from a new alliance of farmer networks representing over 35 million small-scale producers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.

• Chocolate is a global $130 billion industry that relies on one key ingredient; cocoa.
• From bean to bar, the cocoa supply chain is a bittersweet one.
• The end product is something universally loved, but it also comes with a largely hidden human cost.
• Many cocoa farmers earn less than $1/day.
• Farmers are often unable to bear the costs of cocoa farming, turning instead to child labour. From bean to bar, the cocoa supply chain is a bittersweet one. While the end product is something most of us enjoy, this also comes with a human cost.
  
• Based on how much cocoa comes from West Africa, it’s likely that most of the chocolates we eat have a little bit of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in them. The $130B chocolate industry relies on cocoa farming for supply of chocolate’s key ingredient. Yet, many cocoa farmers make less than $1/day.

Cocoa beans go through a number of stages before being used in chocolate products.

1. Harvesting, fermenting, and drying

2. Domestic transportation, cleaning, and exporting

3. Processing and chocolate production

Cocoa farming and trade are at the roots of the chocolate industry, and the consistent supply of cocoa plays a critical role in providing us with reasonably-priced chocolate.

The key nations in cocoa’s global supply chain

Growing cocoa has specific temperature, water, and humidity requirements. As a result, the equatorial regions of Africa, Central and South America, and Asia are optimal for cocoa farming.

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are responsible for 70% of global cocoa production, and cocoa exports play a huge role in their economies. Although the majority of exporters come from equatorial regions, Belgium stands out in fifth place.

These regions host the biggest cocoa exporters by value.

On the other hand, most of the top importers are in Europe—the Netherlands and Germany being the top two. These regions host the biggest cocoa exporters by value.

In third place, the U.S. primarily sources its cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Ecuador. Mars, Hershey, Cargill, and Blommer—some of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers and processors—are headquartered in the U.S. Finally, it comes as no surprise that the biggest importers of cocoa beans are among the biggest chocolate exporters.

Decades of underinvestment and unfair trade mean West Africa’s cocoa farmers are highly vulnerable to climate impacts. To safeguard chocolate supplies governments need to work with – and invest in – farmers’ and their organisations. If farmers organisations have more direct access to climate finance we can scale up nature-friendly practices – such as planting trees to protect the cocoa pods – that are key to adaptation.

The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy