“If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?” – Marquise de Sevigne
The quotation above accurately describes the present situation worldwide as far as chocolate is concerned. Chocolate is made from cocoa. The AP reports that shoppers are likely to miss chocolate this Easter. Chocolate eggs and bunnies have become more expensive as climate patterns change, affecting global cocoa supplies.
Since cocoa is mainly produced in West Africa, the situation has affected the earnings of the crop’s farmers. About three-quarters of the world’s cocoa is produced on cacao trees in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon. However, dusty seasonal winds from the Sahara have been severe in recent months, blocking out the sunlight needed for bean pods to grow. Last season, heavy rainfall spread a rotting disease.
The world’s highest producer, Ivory Coast, could only produce a third of its usual exports in recent months. This has caused the global price of cocoa to rise sharply. Cocoa futures have already doubled this year. It traded at a record high of over $10,000 per metric ton in New York on Tuesday. It rose more than 60% last year. Yet farmers say the increases are not enough to cover their lower yields and higher production costs.
Major chocolate farmers in Europe and the Americas have more than passed on the rise to consumers. “It is likely consumers will see a price spike on chocolate and candy this Easter,” Wells Fargo said in a monthly report. Other companies are also following suit.
Meanwhile, consumers are keeping track.
Cocoa is traded on a regulated global market. Prices are set up to a year in advance. Farmers blame climate change for their poor crops. The farmers sell the products to local dealers, who then sell them to global dealers. Cocoa trees only grow close to the equator and are sensitive to changes in weather.
“While we have a good price today, that’s not it. The cacao hasn’t even produced any (fruit),” Eloi Gnakomene, a cacao farmer in Ivory Coast, said last month.
Opanin Kofi Tutu, a cocoa farmer in Ghana, said the shortfall in production and the higher fertilizer costs make it difficult to survive.
Authorities in Ghana are promoting education on farming methods that might mitigate the effects of climate change, such as using irrigation systems.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana said, “With the current trend of the world cocoa price, cocoa farmers can be sure that I will do right by them in the next season.”
Domestic consumption melted last year in Switzerland, the world’s biggest consumer of chocolate.
