'All the cocoa trees will be destroyed'

Cocoa yields will be “destroyed” by 2030 without financial support and fairer markets, Ivory Coast farmers have warned.

The West African nation is the biggest producer of cocoa in the world, with farmers in the Bafing-Tonkpi region supplying chocolate to global markets, including the UK.

But years of depressed prices have eroded farmers’ ability to reinvest in their land, meaning aging trees, diseases and increasingly unpredictable climate conditions have caused productivity to plummet and prices to skyrocket.

Trees

While UK shoppers pay 50 per cent more for some chocolate products this Easter, farmers living in poverty at the other end of the supply chain are getting little financial benefit at the farm gate.

Yeyasso, a farming co-operative based in the western city of Man, said production from its 5,000 cocoa producers has dropped by 30 per cent in recent years, prompting many to turn to farming other commodities, such as rubber or palm.

Biabate Posseni, 34, a Yeyasso farming lead who helps to train cocoa farmers and monitor their practices, said: “Climate change is strongly impacting the yield. When we wait for rain, rain doesn’t come, and when we need sun, there is no sun and instead we get a lot of rain.”

Like many in the area, Mr Posseni said he is “extremely worried” about the future if the situation worsens. “By 2030, if nothing is done, we won’t have any cocoa trees because, with climate change, all the cocoa trees will be destroyed. There really is a need to gather support so we can tackle it together and keep growing cocoa.”

Revenue

Vemo Bakayoko, 42, a cocoa farmer for Yeyasso in the area of Bogouine, said his two-hectare farm used to turn over 700 kilos of cocoa a year a decade ago, but last year he produced less than half of that at 300kg.

“We can see the change,” he said, describing how heavy rains are increasing the risk of black rot disease. We’re definitely scared because we don’t know if these unpredictable conditions will stop.”

Another major concern for Ivorian farmers is swollen shoot disease which has been spreading from the east of the country, causing bloated branches and misshapen fruit.

Fabrice Flan, a Yeyasso farmer from the village of Yapleu, has watched his household income almost disappear after his four-hectare farm was decimated by the virus in 2016.

“My farm was finished,” he said. “And this is my only farm. This is my only source of revenue for me and my family.”

Livelihoods

Government, regulators and co-operatives are all rolling out efforts to tackle climate impacts facing producers, but resources remain scarce.

Thomas Adei, the regional director at the Ivorian ministry for agriculture, said agroforestry is “at the core” of the government’s policy, asking farmers to support biodiversity by planting fruit and shade trees on farms.