Cocoa Crisis: Illegal Mining, Climate Change Decimate Ghana's Cocoa Farms, Send Chocolate Prices Soaring

Cocoa production in Ghana and Ivory Coast is facing a catastrophic decline due to illegal gold mining, climate change, crop disease, and sector mismanagement.

Up to 590,000 hectares of Ghana's cocoa plantations have been infected with swollen shoot virus, which will eventually kill the trees.

Illegal gold miners are forcibly taking over cocoa farms to access land, leaving the land contaminated and unusable for future cocoa farming.

Climate change is projected to make growing cocoa much harder in West Africa in the coming decades, with suitable land shrinking by over 50% by 2050.

With cocoa production falling in Ghana and Ivory Coast, prices have hit record highs and are projected to keep rising, making chocolate much more expensive for consumers.