Vantage | What record-breaking cocoa prices mean for your chocolate craving

Cocoa is chocolate’s chief component. Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans, which are grown in various tropical countries. But two countries in West Africa — Ivory Coast and Ghana — stand out. Over 60 percent of the world’s cocoa is grown in these two countries. These are the cocoa powerhouses of the world. But this year, they are in crisis — abnormal weather has hit cocoa production, and this is causing a surge in prices. On November 30, cocoa futures were trading at a 46-year high. The prices are up because shipments are down. From Ivory Coast, the supply has fallen by 33 percent compared to last year, while Ghana’s shipments are down to a 13-year low. This is not expected to get better next year. Heavy rainfall is the reason behind these low production levels.

“When the cocoa was blooming, we had too much rain, so all the flowers were washed away. That’s it. Cocoa doesn’t like too much rain, it likes the rain but not too much of it. If it rains too much when the tree is flowering, it washes everything away and then the campaign fails just like that, " said Siaka Sylla , president of a cocoa cooperative. Last month, both Ivory Coast and Ghana saw unusually heavy rains which were caused by the weather phenomenon called the El-Nino. It is a natural weather pattern. It occurs every few years. It leads to excess rainfall around the equator. But in recent years, the El-Nino has been worse than usual, that is because of climate change. The more global warming humans cause, the more powerful the El-Nino becomes. This year has been especially bad. It has led to severe rainfall in the chocolate belt of West Africa. The rains were destructive enough by themselves but they also led to another problem and that is a disease called the Black Pod. The Black Pod disease is a plague that hit the cocoa crop in West Africa. As the name suggests, it causes cocoa pods to turn black and rotten. And it’s a double whammy. It hits the quantity of the cocoa harvest and it also affects the quality. And it’s one of the major reasons behind the cocoa deficit this year. But this is just one part of the problem. There are other factors at play, like in the case of Ghana, it is illegal mining. Ghana is a country rich in natural resources like gold. This year, Ghana ranked at number six when it came to gold production. But almost a third of this was from small mines — mines operated illegally by small scale diggers. These small, illegal mines are popping up everywhere. Even in Ghana’s cocoa plantations. And this is causing a fall in cocoa production. Because gold is any day more lucrative than cocoa. So farmers allow it. They support illegal mines on their land. Now this has been going on for years, but recently, there’s been a surge in illegal mining as Ghana is going through an economic crisis. Ghana defaulted on its sovereign debt last year and the currency depreciated. In 2022, it fell by over 50 percent against the US dollar and this year, the fall continued. Meanwhile inflation rose above 26 percent last month. So the citizens are suffering, including the cocoa farmers. And many of them are turning to illegal gold mining. The knock-on effect has exacerbated the global cocoa shortage. There’s no quick solution to any of this. The El-Nino will continue into next year. Ghana’s economic woes aren’t going away anytime soon. This means cocoa, and by extension chocolate, will continue to get more expensive. So enjoy it this holiday season, because who knows how much a chocolate bar will cost you next year? Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.