Chocolate prices to keep rising as West Africa’s cocoa crisis deepens
– Janet Gyamfi’s farm in western Ghana, which was covered with nearly 6,000 cocoa trees, has been destroyed by illegal gold miners, leaving less than a dozen trees remaining.
– Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producers, are facing catastrophic harvests due to illegal mining, climate change, mismanagement, and disease.
– Ghana’s cocoa plantations are being infected with swollen shoot virus, leading to long-term decline in production.
– Cocoa prices have doubled this year, leading to higher chocolate prices for consumers.
– Illegal gold mining is rapidly expanding in Ghana, leading to the destruction of cocoa plantations.
– Cocobod, the regulatory body for cocoa in Ghana, is struggling to address the challenges facing the sector, including disease and climate change.
– Experts predict that Latin American countries like Ecuador will overtake Ghana as the world’s number 2 cocoa producer by 2027.