The price of chocolate will continue to rise as the cocoa crisis in West Africa worsens

Published 2024년 3월 28일

Tridge summary

Illegal gold mining, known locally as 'galamsey', has severely impacted cocoa production in western Ghana, leading to a significant decline in this crucial economic sector. The destruction of cocoa farms, including a 27-hectare farm owned by Janet Gyamfi, has resulted in contaminated land and financial hardship for local farmers. This crisis is compounded by climate change, mismanagement, and diseases like the swollen bud virus. The situation has caused cocoa futures in New York to rise, threatening West Africa's dominance in the cocoa market and potentially affecting global chocolate prices. Despite the severity of the issue, local authorities and Cocobod, Ghana's cocoa marketing board, have been criticized for their inadequate response, and there is a lack of updated data on the extent of the destruction caused by illegal mining activities.

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Original content

SAMREBOI, Ghana, March 28 (Reuters) - Looking at the stripped landscape of her farm, dotted with puddles of cyanide-stained sewage left by illegal gold miners, is enough to make Janet Gyamfi break down. Last year alone, the 27-hectare plot in western Ghana was covered in almost 6,000 cocoa trees. Today there are less than a dozen left. "This farm was my only means of survival," the 52-year-old divorcee told Reuters, with tears in her eyes. "I was thinking of passing it on to my children." Ghana, long the undisputed global cocoa powerhouse, with more than 60% of the world's supply, and its West African neighbor, Ivory Coast, are facing catastrophic harvests this season. Expectations of shortages of cocoa beans – the raw material for chocolate – have caused cocoa futures in New York to more than double this year alone. They have reached new all-time highs almost daily, in an unprecedented trend that hardly shows any signs of abating. More than 20 farmers, experts and industry ...

Source: Elperiodicodemexico