World
By
Sarah Metz
February 12, 2025 / 6:01 AM EST
/ CBS News
Why cocoa prices are soaring to record levels
As Valentine’s Day approaches, the craving for chocolate intensifies. But chocolate continues to face a significant challenge: Climate change is threatening cacao production, particularly in West Africa, which produces around 70% of the world’s supply. Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are disrupting cacao crops, affecting both the quantity and quality of beans — and driving up prices for consumers. Cocoa prices surged 136% between July 2022 and February 2024, according to UNCTAD commodities price monitoring. For the first time, the price per metric ton on the futures market crossed $10,000 last March, according to the United Nations trade agency, which attributed the increases in part to climate change.A new analysis by scientists at research nonprofit Climate Central highlights how climate change has pushed temperatures above the optimal range for cacao trees in Western Africa. This analysis is “the first that we know of that really tries to put a number on how much humans and climate change are influencing cocoa trees and cocoa production from West Africa,” said Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central.West African countries have long been the heart of cocoa production, producing around 3.48 million metric tons of cocoa beans in the 2022-2023 season. This massive output is vital to the global chocolate industry, where it takes about 400 cocoa beans to make just one pound of chocolate. Millions of farmers depend on the crop for their livelihoods. In Ghana, cocoa production provides employment for 3.2 million farmers and workers, more than 10% of its total population. “Climate change is threatening the existence of cocoa farmers and their sources of livelihoods,” says cocoa farmer Emmanuel Essah-Mensa from Ghana, who advises several hundred cocoa farms. Cacao trees are grown in regions within 10 degrees north and south of the equator where the climate is ideal for its cultivation. The crop — the raw, unprocessed form of cocoa beans — has two primary harvest periods in Western Africa: the main crop harvest from September to March and the mid-crop from May to August. After flowering, it takes about five to six months for the pods to mature. Once ripe, the pods are harvested by hand and then split open to extract the seeds, which undergo fermentation and drying processes to develop the flavors essential for chocolate production. The ideal temperature range for cacao growth is up to 32 degrees Celsius, or 89.6 Fahrenheit, but recent trends indicate that climate change is increasing the number of days above this range. Climate Central examined temperature data from 44 cacao-producing districts, regions, or states in West Africa, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Niger