Top cocoa growers still struggle with supply

A dramatic spike in the price of cocoa that roiled commodity traders and candy makers is showing signs of easing, and the top industry group is even predicting a small global surplus, after years of shortages.

- MUMBI GITAU EKOW DONTOH BAUDELAIRE MIEU

Chocolate lovers around the world would be forgiven for breathing a tentative sigh of relief. But on the ground in West Africa, among the thousands of smallholder farmers who supply about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa, the reality is far more complicated.

Bloomberg reporters drove some 2,500 kilometres (1,553 miles) last month through key growing areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana. What we found: visibly dry farms with flowers withering on trees, cropland pocked with illegal mines, and producers losing a battle with disease-riddled cocoa plants — all signs the road to recovery will be a tough one.

Africa's cocoa heartland, which also includes nations like Nigeria and Cameroon, has long grappled with blight and aging trees, leaving farms particularly vulnerable as harsh weather hammered crops in recent years. While international prices spiked as much as five-fold since the end of 2022, the distinct way the top producers sell and price their cocoa mean neither authorities nor farmers have reaped the kinds of windfalls necessary to meaningfully bolster harvests.

West Africa's crops will be crucial in determining whether global cocoa prices return to more affordable levels. Overall, the harvests in the current growing year are expected to rise slightly, but remain well below output just a few years ago. Instead, the market is being balanced out as consumers respond by simply eating less chocolate.

“We may get a recovery in production next season,” said Jonathan Parkman, head of agricultural sales at Marex Group. “But it’s not going to be to the sort of levels that we saw prior to the big problems.”

SWOLLEN SHOOT DISEASE

Fields in Ghana marked the first stop on our cocoa journey. After winding 500 kilometres from the capital into the bush, the fallout from one of the country’s biggest cocoa challenges — swollen shoot disease — was clear in Enchi.