"Cocoa prices have eased since last year's spike, but climate shocks and forest loss are making volatility the new normal. Agroforestry offers a way to protect supply and forests alike. This Valentine's Day, chocolate prices are no longer at last year's peak, but cheap chocolate has not made a comeback, and it probably never will. Last year's cocoa price crisis, driven by a combination of extreme heat, drought and disease in key producing regions, may have eased."
"But the aftertaste remains: A market that no longer behaves the way it used to, because the landscapes that grow cocoa are no longer the same. And the world's unwitting appetite for cheap chocolate at the expense of biodiversity is part of the reason. Cocoa is one of the most rainfall-dependent crops in the tropics, grown mainly by smallholders with few safety nets."
Cocoa prices have eased since last year's spike, but volatility has become the new normal as climate shocks and forest loss reshape producing landscapes. Extreme heat, drought and disease slashed harvests in 2024, especially in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which supply nearly 60 percent of global cocoa, and prices surged by more than 300 percent. Decades of chasing low prices and high output drove forest conversion to farmland, weakening rainfall regulation, soil protection and local microclimates. Full-sun monocultures yield short-term gains but cause soil depletion and greater drought vulnerability. Agroforestry can restore microclimates, conserve biodiversity and strengthen smallholder resilience while protecting supply.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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