As Valentine's Day approaches, craving to chocolate increased. But Chocolate continues to face a serious problem: climate change threatens cocoa production, especially in West Africa, which produces about 70% of the world's supplies. Fever and precipitation displacement disrupts cocoa crops that affect both the quantity and the quality of the beans – and Increasing prices for consumers.
Cocoa's prices have grown 136% Between July 2022 and February 2024, reports the UNCTAD prices. For the first time the price per metric tone on the futures market has crossed US $ 10,000 last MarchAccording to the United Nations trading agency, which is associated with an increase in climate change.
The new analysis of the non -profit climate research of the central moment emphasizes how climate change pushed the temperature above the optimal cocoa trees in West Africa. This analysis “The first thing we know about what really tries to invest a number about how many people and climate change affect cocoa -dreava and cocoa production from West Africa,” said Christina Dal, Vice -President of Science in Climate Central .
West African countries have long been the heart production of cocoa that produce around them 3.48 million metric tons Cocoa beans in the 2022-2023 season. This massive output is vital for the global chocolate industry, where you need about 400 cocoa -sobs to make only one pound of chocolate. Millions of farmers depend on the crop for their livelihoods. In Ghana cocoa production provides employment for 3.2 million farmers and workers, which is more than 10% of the total number population. “Climate change threatens the existence of cocoa-farm and their sources before existence,” says Cocoa farmer Emanuel Essse-Mens from Ghana, who advises several hundred cocoa-farm.
Cocoo trees are grown in regions within 10 degrees north and south of the equator where the climate is perfect for it cultivation. Cocoa-bean-berry crop, two main crop periods in West Africa: the main crop from September to March and the middle of May to August. After flowering, you will need about five -six months to steel pods. Once ripening, pods are collected by hand and then cleaned to extract seeds that are subjected to fermentation and drying to work out the flavors required for chocolate production.
The ideal temperature range for cocoa growth is up to 32 degrees Celsius, or 89.6 Fahrenheit, but recent trends indicate that climate change increases the number of days above this range. The central climate has studied the temperature data from 44 areas producing cocoa, regions or states in West Africa, including Cameroon, Coast-Deauar, Ghana and Nigeria. Over the last decade, approximately two -thirds of the region, which has been growing in Cocoa, has encountered an increase at least six weeks, which cost a hottest eight extra weeks of excessive heat.
Excessive heat strongly affects the production of cocoa. Cocoa plants are calculated on a stable temperature for the right photosynthesis, and too many hot days can affect photosynthesis, which will lead to shrunted flowers and smaller, rotten pods of the cocoa.
The influence of climate change goes beyond thermal tension. Cocoo trees are also sensitive to precipitation models. Cocoo blooms when rainfall is from 1500 to 2000 millimeters, or about 59 to 79 inches annually, without dry spells for more than three months, According to an international cocoa organization . In July 2024, in the part of the cat -diora, they saw 40% more precipitation than usual, floods and damage damage, while December brought into the region light rain that slows down photosynthesis, which led to less flowers and more Underdeveloped beans. Incorrect precipitation models leave farmers with unpredictable growing conditions, which contributes to the reduction of the crop and the increase in prices.
To adapt, some farmers turn to various, natural agricultural practices, such as planting higher trees between cocoa plants, creating healthy fertile soils that hold on to moisture and provide a protective shade for cocoa plants. However, such strategies are not stupid and may take time. The future of the cocoa agriculture in the warming world remains uncertain, and the constant problems threaten to continue to increase the price of chocolate, making your favorite sweet treats more expensive.