Why the future of chocolate Is becoming uncertain
How easy it is to buy chocolate without giving much thought to where it comes from! For many people it’s just a little treat added to the weekly shop. Yet the choices we make today will impact the sustainability of cocoa farming in the years to come, including whether chocolate itself remains affordable.
Several years of poor harvests have pushed cocoa prices to unprecedented heights, making the chocolate we buy more expensive. But it isn’t the farmers who are feeling the benefit.
Cocoa is grown in a narrow band around the equator - West Africa, Central and South America, South-East Asia - and it’s still grown largely on small family farms. But for many cocoa farmers the reality is that the money they earn from this valued crop isn’t enough to earn a stable living. It isn’t enough to send their children to school or invest in their farms for the future.
At the same time, cocoa farming is becoming more precarious due to climate change. To grow cocoa you need stable temperatures and reliable rainfall, but in the big cocoa producing regions the climate is changing, with longer dry periods, irregular rainfall and rising temperatures. With reduced harvests and no safety net, no wonder many of the children of cocoa farmers are seeking a different life away from the land.
Fairtrade brings a huge difference to farmers’ lives, and helps creates resilience to multiple challenges. First of all farmers are guaranteed a minimum price for their crop, which reduces the precariousness of life at the mercy of the global marketplace. On top of the money they earn from the cocoa, the farmers cooperative receives a Fairtrade Premium to fund projects which benefit the whole community. This can be things such as schools, healthcare and clean water, but also help with agricultural improvements, increasingly related to building climate resilience.
Training in climate knowledge and sustainable agriculture are a vital part of this, as well as how to implement climate-resilient techniques. Interplanting of shade trees and other crops which improve the soil and provide additional and diversified income. Introducing drought-resistant crop varieties, reducing chemical use, improving irrigation, managing water efficiently, and implementing pest management.
At Harrogate Fair Trade Shop we are supporting farmers to improve their lives and keep farming. Behind each bar, each Easter egg, each mug of hot chocolate are farming families working to sustain their farms and their communities in a changing world. The choices we make when buying chocolate help shape the future of chocolate itself.
