OCTOBER 31, 2016 • JUNIOR.SCHOLASTIC.COM 9

INTERNATIONALAfrica • Economics

CHOCOLATE CRISIS

Imagine if there were no candy bars, peanut butter cups, or chocolate wafers

this Halloween—or ever. As scary as that may sound, it could one day become reality.

BY LAURA ANASTASIA Turn the page to find out why.

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THE WORLD’S APPETITE for

chocolate has reached record

levels. People ate 7.1 million

tons of the sweet stuff in 2015 alone.

We’re consuming chocolate faster

than farmers can grow cocoa. That is

chocolate’s key ingredient. In fact,

while demand is up, supply is down.

Cocoa is a labor- and time-

intensive crop. It is difficult to

cultivate even in the best condi-

tions. And now the cocoa industry in

the West African nations of Côte

d’Ivoire and Ghana—the world’s top

cocoa producers—is facing serious

threats, including diseased crops

and drought. Prospects for cocoa

farmers in these nations are so bleak

that young adults there are aban-

doning cocoa farming altogether.

This has raised concerns over who

will grow cocoa in the future.

To keep the world supplied with

chocolate, Mars, Hershey, Nestlé,

and other leading chocolate compa-

nies recently agreed to invest

$1 billion to improve cocoa farming

practices. Through a plan called

CocoaAction, they are working to

help 300,000 cocoa farmers in Côte

d’Ivoire (also known as Ivory Coast)

and Ghana. The companies are

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INTERNATIONAL

teaching growers new farming

techniques and providing them

with more modern equipment.

They’re also aiming to improve life

in 1,200 West African communities

where many cocoa farmers live.

The companies hope their efforts

will help cocoa farmers and their

families, and protect one of the

world’s most beloved treats,

explains Tim McCoy. He is a direc-

tor at the World Cocoa Foundation,

the group organizing CocoaAction.

“If those farms in Ivory Coast and

Ghana went away,” McCoy says,

“there would not be enough cocoa

in the world to satisfy the demand

for chocolate.”

Making Chocolate Cocoa is a powder or paste made

from dried, crushed cocoa beans,

the seeds of the cacao (kuh-KOW)

tree. Cacao trees take about five

years to reach peak production.

They grow in countries close to the

equator. That’s an imaginary line

that circles the middle of the globe

where the Earth is at its hottest.

Each tree bears a few dozen fruit-

like pods annually. Each pod holds

up to 50 cocoa beans. It takes about

400 beans to make one pound of

chocolate. So if a tree were to pro-

duce 48 pods, it would only yield up

to six pounds of chocolate per year.

Farmers harvest and dry the

beans, which are then sold to choc-

olate makers. The beans are

cleaned, roasted, and ground into a

paste. Manufacturers mix the paste

with sugar, milk, and other ingredi-

ents to make chocolate.

However, companies are using

cocoa to produce more than just

sweet treats. Today, cocoa is used in

everything from potato chips to

pasta. Some companies even use

10 JUNIOR.SCHOLASTIC.COM • OCTOBER 31, 2016

Workers dry cocoa beans in West Africa.

COCOA AND CHILD LABORAlthough Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have banned child labor, it remains a problem there. According to a recent study, about 2 million kids worked on cocoa farms in West Africa in 2014.

Child laborers are often forced to put in long hours in dangerous conditions with little or no pay. Cocoa harvesters use machetes to cut pods from cacao trees, then hack them open to get the seeds. A slip of the hand

can lead to serious wounds. Children are injured more often than adults.

CocoaAction is addressing child labor by securing birth certificates and school supplies for kids so they can go back to school. Officials are also helping farmers find other ways of earning income that don’t rely on kids. But experts say more needs to be done, starting with better enforcement of existing child labor laws.

cocoa or chocolate in soaps, lotions,

and toothpaste.

Industry Threats In recent years, demand for choco-

late has increased. That has made

maintaining the world’s cocoa sup-

ply difficult. One reason chocolate

consumption is up is that people in

China and India—the world’s two

most populous countries—are eat-

ing more of it than ever before.

Chocolate was long considered a

luxury in those nations. But as the

economies of both countries have

grown, more people can afford to

buy the sweet stuff.

At the same time, cocoa is a tough

crop to grow. Farmers around the

world, including in West Africa,

Indonesia, Ecuador, and Brazil, face

challenges. In West Africa, many

use outdated planting methods.

They also have little access to fertil-

izer to boost crop production.

Aging trees, which produce fewer

pods, and tree diseases are also

problems. In Côte d’Ivoire and

Ghana, insect-borne and fungal

infections often destroy cacao trees

or limit their production. Many

farmers either don’t have access to

or can’t afford pesticides that might

keep infections at bay.

“Diseases steal about 30 to 40

percent of the crop every year,” esti-

mates Mark Guiltinan. He’s a cacao

expert and biology professor at

Pennsylvania State University.

Weather is also taking a toll.

Much of Africa has been facing its

worst drought in three decades.

Cacao trees need a consistent

amount of rain to thrive. Many

farmers have seen crop production

fall because of a lack of rainfall.

Struggling FarmersCocoa farmers are also suffering.

Some earn as little as 50 cents a day,

even though chocolate is a multi-

billion-dollar industry. Growers

often live in areas with little

infrastructure. That means their

families may lack access to schools

and health care.

In the face of such a grim future,

many young adults are giving up the

family tradition of harvesting cocoa.

Instead, they’re heading to cities in

search of better jobs. The worker

shortage, along with the fact that

many farmers cannot afford to pay

a crew’s wages, has led some to

resort to cheap child labor. (See

“Cocoa and Child Labor,” above.)

If these problems are left unad-

dressed, they could lead to a severe

cocoa shortage—and soaring prices.

The price of cocoa beans has

IF THOSE FARMS . . . WENT AWAY, THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH

COCOA IN THE WORLD TO SATISFY THE DEMAND FOR CHOCOLATE.D

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An 11-year-old boy uses a machete to harvest cocoa pods in Côte d’Ivoire.

Top producer

Top consumer

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GHANA

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OCEAN

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12 JUNIOR.SCHOLASTIC.COM • OCTOBER 31, 2016

already increased by nearly 40 per-

cent from 2012 to 2016. To offset the

rising costs, some chocolate com-

panies are increasing prices. They’re

also shrinking the size of their candy

bars and may end up adding more

fillings, such as nuts and caramel.

A United FrontWith the CocoaAction plan, the

companies are trying to tackle these

challenges. They recently started

sharing data on their farming prac-

tices and crop yields in an effort to

increase cocoa production.

The partnership has also sent

teams of experts to West Africa to

advise farmers on better ways to

work. In Côte d’Ivoire, Mars is work-

ing to create farming centers where

farmers can obtain the tools and

training to boost their cocoa yields.

In Ghana, Hershey has been tex-

ting farmers with tips, such as the

best time to apply fertilizer. Accord-

ing to McCoy, cell phone use is fairly

widespread there. Texting has been

a successful way to reach farmers.

Still, even if methods improve,

CocoaAction officials warn that

cocoa farming will be sustainable

only if the people who grow the crop

benefit from it. To that end, Nestlé

and other companies are helping to

build better schools in farming

communities. They hope that will

encourage families to stay. Cocoa-

Action members are also working to

change young people’s perceptions

of the cocoa industry.

“Our challenge is to show that if

farmers apply the new agricultural

practices, they can produce greater

amounts of cocoa, and their income

will be much higher,” McCoy says.

“[Then] they will have the resources

to feed their families, to pay school

fees, to improve their houses.”

INTERNATIONAL

Cocoa Around the World This map shows the top cocoa producers and consumers in 2014-15.

Recipe for Success?The CocoaAction plan has shown

some results. Côte d’Ivoire pro-

duced record cocoa crops the past

two growing seasons. The teams in

Ghana hope to achieve the same

success there.

However, even with Côte

d’Ivoire’s increased crop, officials

say both countries are producing

just one-third of their total possible

yield. It’s also unclear whether

CocoaAction’s efforts will convince

younger cocoa farmers to stay.

For now, experts remain optimis-

tic. Guiltinan, the professor from

Pennsylvania, hopes that more peo-

ple will want to plant cacao trees as

farming conditions in West Africa

continue to improve.

Still, don’t expect the price of

chocolate to drop anytime soon.

“These farmers work really hard in

really difficult conditions,” Guilti-

nan says. “We owe it to them to pay

a little bit more.” ◆

1. Côte d’Ivoire 1,979,751 $3,500

2. Ghana 815,710 $4,400

3. Indonesia 358,251 $11,600

4. Cameroon 255,736 $3,200

5. Ecuador 275,577 $10,700

TOP 5 PRODUCERS

COUNTRY

ESTIMATED COCOA

PRODUCED (TONS)

PER CAPITA

GDP*

Top producer

Top consumer

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OCTOBER 31, 2016 • JUNIOR.SCHOLASTIC.COM 13

1. In which continent are three of the top five cocoa-

producing countries located?

2. Which country consumes the most cocoa?

3. What is the per capita GDP of the world’s biggest

cocoa producer?

4. How many tons of cocoa total were consumed by

the European countries labeled?

5. Which top producers are located along the equator?

6. Which producer has a per capita GDP of $4,400?

7. How many tons of cocoa were consumed by the

top South American cocoa consumer?

8. What is the southernmost top cocoa producer?

9. Which labeled country has a per capita GDP about

five times that of Indonesia?

10. Why might cocoa-producing countries be so poor?

Cite facts from the article to support your answer.

Questions

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Do you think the CocoaAction initiative will improve cocoa farmers’ quality of life? Explain.

YOUR TURN

Watch a video about how chocolate is made at junior.scholastic.com.

1. United States 811,301 $57,200

2. Germany 385,808 $47,500

3. France 248,020 $41,900

4. United Kingdom 242,508 $42,000

5. Brazil 209,439 $15,000

COUNTRY

COCOA CONSUMED

(TONS)

PER CAPITA

GDP*

TOP 5 CONSUMERS

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*GDP stands for gross domestic product; per capita means “per person.” Per capita GDP is the value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year, divided by the population. It often is used as a measure of a nation’s wealth.SOURCES: International Cocoa Organization, data for 2014-15; International Monetary Fund (IMF)