Warming Earth Added 3 Weeks To Beyond-Optimum Temperatures In Key West African Cacao-Growing Regions
The climate crisis drove weeks of high temperatures in the west African region responsible for about 70% of global cacao production, hitting harvests and probably causing further record chocolate prices, researchers have said. Farmers in the region have struggled with heat, disease and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have contributed to falling production.
The decline has resulted in an increase in the price of cocoa, which is produced from the beans of the cacao tree and is the main ingredient in chocolate. A new report found that “climate change, due primarily to burning oil, coal and methane gas, is causing hotter temperatures to become more frequent” in places such as the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria. The study, by the independent research group Climate Central, found the trend was particularly marked in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two biggest cacao producers.
Using data from 44 cacao-producing areas in west Africa and computer models, the researchers compared today’s temperatures with a counterfactual of a world not affected by global heating. The researchers looked at the likelihood of these regions facing temperatures in excess of 32C (89.6 F) – above levels considered optimum for cacao trees.
The report calculated that over the last decade, global heating had added an extra three weeks of temperatures exceeding 32C in Ivory Coast and Ghana during the main growing season between October and March. Last year, the hottest year globally on record, they found global heating drove temperatures above 32C on at least 42 days across two thirds of the areas analysed. Researchers said “excessive heat can contribute to a reduction in the quantity and quality of the harvest”.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/13/climate-crisis-contributing-to-chocolate-market-meltdown-research-finds