6 votes

The African farmers taking on big chocolate

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  1. patience_limited
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    Chocolate has one of the longest and least equitable supply chains of any processed food. The nations which specialize in growing cacao, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, are too warm for competitive...

    Chocolate has one of the longest and least equitable supply chains of any processed food.

    The nations which specialize in growing cacao, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, are too warm for competitive chocolate production or local consumption markets. The result is an extractive smallholder cacao farming system that leaves growers in extreme poverty. There's little ability to institute grower's cooperatives or cartels because cacao is an essential source of cash to rural families, and its production can't be unilaterally stopped at the source, like turning off oil pumps.

    Large chocolate manufacturing conglomerates are becoming more sensitive to consumer sentiment about deforestation, climate impact, unsustainability, child labor, and pollution, and have focused on programmes to improve these issues. Producer nations are experimenting with imposing living-wage surcharges of $400/tonne of beans.

    3 votes