How does climate change affect your Valentine’s Chocolate? – PLANET STATE

Every year, Americans spend more and more on Valentine’s Day for their loved ones. In 2023, they passed Almost $ 26 billionAnd this year, more than $ 27.5 billion is expected to spend. Most of this is spent on sweets, 11.2% of which is chocolate. In fact, Americans will eat 58 million pounds of chocolate The week of Valentine’s Day. But cocoa production is decreasing and chocolate prices are increasing. Jessica FanzoClimate professor and director of the Food Initiative for Humanity of the Climate School of Columbia, explains that cocoa trees need to prosper and how climate change is making chocolate production more challenging.

Where do cocoa trees grow and what conditions do they need to prosper?

The main cocoa producing regions are found in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea; Central and South America, such as Ecuador and Colombia; and in Western Africa, such as Cote ‘d’IVorire, Ghana and Cameroon. Approximately 70% of cocoa produced worldwide comes from West Africa. Some of the common points of these regions are that they embrace Ecuador and are tropical.

Cocoa trees need warm temperatures, high humidity and reliable rain. Due to these three requirements, one can imagine how sensitive cocoa production for a changing climate. In addition, cocoa trees need 3 to 5 years to produce the first cocoa pods after planting the seedlings. Maximum production has been 5 years. However, climate change does not have time to wait: global warming is being reduced on the planet, and cocoa trees need special care and time to grow, mature and mature their cocoa pods. It is also needed time after cocoa is sold, so to ferment and dry the pods in products such as chocolate. Therefore, cultivating and maintaining cocoa trees, a highly intensive process in labor, requires a specific agronomic experience, such as land management, pest and disease antaupa and guarantees pollination potential. Now, climate change is presenting challenges for those who care about this important world product.

How does climate change affect cocoa production?

The less predictable climate, climatic variability and climate change are significantly affecting cocoa production. Because cocoa requires constant rain, droughts or prolonged drying seasons can cause water stress and reduce yields. Too many rains can spread diseases such as specific fungi that are directed to cocoa or cocoa barers. High temperatures also emphasize trees and increase soil moisture loss by accelerating evaporation, which leads to low yields. Some areas of Western Africa are becoming incredibly hot and dry, with implications for human nutrition and health, as well as the ability to cultivate cocoa trees in traditional growth areas. To mitigate heat impacts, some farmers are moving to areas of greater elevation; However, land tenure is dim and controversial. While in Southeast Asia and South America there may be opportunities to make the cocoa industry grow further, deforestation puts these crops at risk with the loss of biodiversity and poor management of the ecosystem.

Are there ways to adapt to these effects and are practiced?

Absolutely. An option for farmers is to adopt the new varieties of cocoa tolerant to drought and resistant to diseases that are being investigated and developed. These new varieties are being tested in several places, such as Ghana and Brazil. A second option is that farmers grow cocoa in “mixed” agroforestry systems where cocoa could be cultivated under shade trees (such as banana). These trees moderate temperatures and maintain soil moisture. In addition, add more fruit trees, such as avocado or mango, to the agricultural system can complement the livelihoods and provide nutrition for homes. Third, soil and water management is key, including the capture and harvest of rainwater, and if possible, investments or assistance with irrigation strategies. Mantillo techniques can retain soil moisture during droughts. Accuracy agricultural tools and mobile applications can also provide farmers with information, such as meteorological forecasts, market prices and farm sensors, to better prepare for extreme climatic events or market volatility.

Connect farmers with certification and cooperation programs and ensure that governments and the private sector support these mechanisms is fundamental. Certification programs such as Fair Trade, the Rainforest Alliance and organic certification schemes can provide producers with better prices, training and tax incentives for greater climate resistant cocoa agriculture. Finally and most importantly, farmers need help, support and community to ensure that they can make a climate adaptation transition. For all these adaptation technologies and management practices on the farm, extension services and cooperative agriculture groups could be used and establish to provide technical support, credit access and financing of shares and risks.

Is there any way that consumers can encourage more sustainable growth practices through what they buy?

Consumers can support chocolate of ethical origin by buying products with clearly labeled sustainability certifications. These certifications mean that companies not only obtain their chocolate from farmers who are taking measures to produce cocoa in a more sustainable environmentally environmentally, but for many companies, it means that they are working to ensure that farmers obtain living wages and fair prices for their product and strive for better and fair labor practices. Consumers can also look for brands that obtain farm chocolate that support agroforestry, such as shadow -cultivated cocoa production. There is a range of chocolate products in the market, but one must investigate how brands obtain their chocolate and support policies and policy formulators that care about fair trade, reforestation and climate change.

Why are cocoa prices so high?

In 2023, cocoa yields were low in both in Ivory and Ghana coast, main producers, due to low rain and disease, which sent prices shot. In the last two years, cocoa prices, the facts for intercontinental exchange, increase more than 300%. Due to a variety of factors that began for the first time with climate -related events that decimated yields in West Africa and other factors, such as market speculation, future contracts and the slow pace of ‘add’ trees to increase yields , prices have remained high. So get ready to pay more if you want to buy your loved one with a little chocolate this Valentine’s Day.