There Is A Dark History To Chocolate How Can We Assure Its Long-Term Sustainability?

Chocolate consumption is steadily rising since it has come to represent desires, festivities, and presents for loved ones. The current estimated annual value of the worldwide chocolate market is $128 billion. That represents just under half of the world’s worth of rice, one of our most vital dietary staples.

The cost of cocoa beans, the primary component in chocolate, has been varying at roughly $US2,000 per tonne for the last 20 years, but it recently reached a record high of $US10,402. This sudden increase was in response to decreased supply in the primary cocoa-producing area of West Africa, which was brought on by crop disease and dry weather associated with El Niño. The world’s greatest producer, Côte d’Ivoire, has seen a 27% decrease in harvests this season, while the second-largest producer, Ghana, is seeing its lowest production in 14 years. But chocolate lovers have much more to worry about than just the weather.

Professor Merrilyn Walton of the University of Sydney and Professor David Guest, an eminent specialist on cocoa, discuss why, if immediate action is not taken, the record prices of cocoa beans may not be enough to prevent a worldwide scarcity of chocolate. They highlight the fact that many cocoa farmers struggle to make ends meet on less than $2 a day, despite the fact that the chocolate business is valued at $US128 billion annually. They emphasize that in order to prevent an imminent disaster, the business must address crop disease, climate change, and farmer poverty.

The chocolate business has a murky past and is still essentially unsustainable. Originating in pre-Columbian South America, it developed into a hugely lucrative plantation crop in the 18th and 19th centuries, thanks to the availability of cheap labor from colonists. With the independence of many countries that produced cocoa, the plantation economy collapsed in the 20th century. Nowadays, smallholder farming families—the majority of whom make less than $2 a day—are the primary producers of cocoa.

Price booms like the present one, in which the price of cocoa beans tripled in a matter of months, are always followed by busts, according to historical patterns. Price instability stifles the growth of lucrative modern, large-scale cocoa agricultural enterprises, inhibits investment in effective smallholder farming, and frustrates assistance programs meant to provide a livable wage.

Low yields, opportunistic agricultural techniques, and inadequate control of crop disease and soil fertility are all caused by uncertainty. In an attempt to make up for it, some farmers try growing additional cocoa, often destroying protected areas. Some farmers switch from cocoa to more stable and lucrative crops like oil palm. The scarcity of raw cocoa beans for export to and processing by the nations that generate the majority of our chocolate is made worse by producing countries’ onshore processing and value-adding.

There is growing international agreement that advancements in other fields like health and education must be connected to increasing agricultural output and reducing rural poverty, especially in the cocoa supply chain. Productivity and earnings are restricted in cocoa growing villages due to a lack of essential amenities. Farmers’ physical ability has been diminished by undernutrition as a result of disease, exhaustion, and other health issues. Kids struggle in school, and rising medical expenses and the time away from the farm needed to get, often far-off, medical treatment strain family finances. Children may be forced to work when the labor needed to maintain cocoa plants is unavailable, which would further exacerbate the cycle of inadequate education, destitution, and hunger. The work force that is available is usually diverted into financially advantageous pursuits such as oil palm plantations or environmentally damaging operations like deforestation and mining.

What steps can lovers of chocolate take to prevent future tragedies? It all boils down to being willing to spend a little bit more on chocolate. Like many meals, the majority of the retail dollar is spent on supply chain expenses; the basic components only cost a few cents. A consistent price of $4,000 per tonne is thought to be the minimum needed to provide cocoa growers with a livable wage. Customers shouldn’t be alarmed by this since it would greatly lower poverty and provide funding for essential healthcare and education in isolated rural agricultural regions. Growers of cocoa will be more likely to invest in long-term, sustainable production if they enjoy sustainable living conditions. Chocolate fans have even more reason to enjoy their favorite goodies as a result.

Should the economics of cocoa bean cultivation remain unchanged, there might be another bust that would further undermine trust, keep agricultural people impoverished, and jeopardize the long-term chocolate supply. Nobody finds it to be a desirable situation.