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While chocolate is selling well, cocoa producers barely have enough money to survive – despite the special fee.
The cocoa harvest was good that year. For example, a lot of cocoa was harvested in the large producing countries in West Africa. At the same time, however, sales were resinous – among other things because of the pandemic. The result: The price of cocoa is low, as is the income of the producer families.
Around 60 percent of the world’s cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The cultivation there is regulated by the state and the authorities are demanding a special contribution from buyers for the second time in a row, which should go directly to the farmers.
States have to act better
But at such low prices, despite the special contribution, many families are barely able to survive, confirms Christian Robin, managing director of the Swiss platform for sustainable cocoa. The state cocoa organizations would have to reduce the supply.
“If they really want to gain pricing power and want to achieve higher prices, then in future they have to better manage the supply,” says Robin.
The farmer only receives around 60 percent of the world market price. What happens to the remaining 40 percent is unclear.
Christian Robin recently looked at the situation in Ghana. The state organization ensures good quality, but the authority is also dominant and opaque.
“The farmer only receives around 60 percent of the world market price. There’s a lot of bureaucracy and you don’t know what will happen to the remaining 40 percent, ”says Robin.
Customer countries are responsible
In addition to aid organizations, producers, small and global corporations such as Barry Callebaut, also participate in the Swiss platform for sustainable cocoa. Together they look for solutions for better local production conditions, for example with additional income opportunities for the farmers.
This means that the platform can reach 100,000 farming families. They produced around two thirds of Switzerland’s annual imports. Christian Robin confirms that not every chocolate sold in Switzerland is produced in an ecologically and socially responsible manner for a long time. Poverty and ecological problems are still widespread.
We have to take our responsibility in this value chain.
But doing without chocolate is not a good solution. “The chocolate can be enjoyed, but we really have to take our responsibility in this value chain,” says Christian Robin.
By making purchases in stores, consumers can specifically influence the cocoa supply, and this affects the production countries as well.