Climate change affects crops, cocoa prices triple in a year

With Easter just a week away, chocolate lovers should be prepared for rising prices when shopping for their favorite seasonal treats.

The price of cocoa has tripled from a year ago due to climate change and El Niño, a non-profit environmental group said. Prices reached US$8,000 per ton this week, compared with US$2,500 per ton in the same period last year.

Amber Sawyer, a climate and energy analyst at the UK-based non-profit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said erratic weather patterns in major cocoa-producing countries such as Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are affecting the international commodity price.

“Chocolatiers are trying to buy cocoa, but the supply of cocoa is reduced,” she said. “Obviously, because supply has decreased and demand has increased, prices have increased for the confectionery companies that produce cocoa.” “Chocolate. Those costs are now being passed on to consumers.”

Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which produce nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa, experienced heavy rains in December. Flooding caused crop damage and caused cocoa trees to rot due to black pod disease.

Extreme heat can also take its toll.

“This not only affects the crops, because it’s difficult to grow cocoa in these conditions, but it also affects the farmers themselves,” Sawyer said.

“Farmers have gone from too much rain to not enough, which means their production is lagging and they are unable to sell on international markets,” she said.

Ghana has lowered its cocoa production forecast for this year from 850,000 tons to 650,000 tons due to poor weather conditions and smuggling.

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shows that cocoa is grown in the countries that are most vulnerable and ill-prepared to deal with climate change.

West Africa experienced an intense heatwave in February, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), according to analysis released Thursday by the UK-based World Weather Attribution website.

Izzidine Pinto, a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Metrology Institute who contacted the site, said the heat wave and heavy rainfall affected people’s lives and work.

He said: “Climate change is leading to increased rainfall and more intense heat waves. These changes in extreme weather are making life more dangerous for people in West Africa… This is damaging livelihoods… destroying crops and producing food.” He said it is more expensive. “

Meteorological experts point out that before widespread burning of fossil fuels, heat waves once occurred every 100 years, but in today’s climate, heat waves occur once every 10 years.

Although African countries contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions, they are bearing the brunt of the impacts of climate change. The ECIU urged rich countries to provide financial and technical assistance to help farmers cope with the impacts of severe weather and climate change.