Environmental impact of cocoa production

Global Climate Change, for example, causes longer drought seasons making it more difficult for farmers to plant and sustain new Cacao trees.

[9] Cocoa bean prices are so low that farmers have to focus on increasing their yields and making more money from their relatively small plots of land.

Cacao trees with no shade tend to accumulate more weeds[12] as well as be more susceptible to diseases such as Witches Broom and Frosty Pod Rot.

Excessive spraying of pesticides can also cause the weeds and insects to build up a resistance which will eventually create more harm to the crops.

[13] Sun cultivation of cocoa may require clearing overstory as well as understory, which contributes to deforestation and habitat loss.

[16] Cocoa farming becomes a destructive circle as farmers wear out the soils and cut further into the forest to obtain fresh land.

All of these processes stress the Cacao trees and result in lower yields,[16] giving the opposite effect to what the farmers expect from these practices.

Some of the forests in Ghana and other Cocoa producing countries have been declared protected by the government after observing the Tropical Rainforest destruction.

However, with a shortage of fresh land to plant Cacao trees, some farmers are beginning to illegally cut down parts of these protected forests.

[15] On 13 September 2017 NGO Mighty Earth released a report[17] documenting findings that Cargill, Olam International and Barry Callebaut purchase cocoa grown illegally in national parks and other protected forests in the Ivory Coast to feed demand from large chocolate companies like Mars, Hershey's, Nestlé, Mondelez, Lindt and Ferrero.

[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] The report accused the companies of endangering the forest habitats of chimpanzees, elephants and the many other wildlife populations by purchasing cocoa linked to deforestation.

[29] Cargill, Olam International and Barry Callebaut were notified of the findings of Mighty Earth’s investigation and did not deny that the company sourced its cocoa from protected areas in the Ivory Coast.

As a last resort, some programs will help farmers to access pest control products such as biocides as an alternative to the harmful pesticides being used.

[13] The shade provided by these trees also helps to keep soil moist in dry seasons[12] which results in less damaging irrigation practices.

[13] Cacao plants that grow in the shade provide the environment with more biodiversity, allowing natural populations and habitats to flourish.