Ghana faces cocoa emergency

(MENAFN) Ghana, the world's second-largest cocoa producer, is grappling with a severe cocoa production crisis due to an outbreak of swollen shoot disease. This situation has raised concerns about its potential impact on global cocoa prices, which have already surged recently. The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) reported that 81 percent of a key cocoa-producing area in the Western African country is infected with the disease.

Swollen shoot disease has significantly influenced cocoa prices, which have nearly doubled this year due to adverse weather conditions and disease outbreaks in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, according to a report by Reuters. Together, these two countries account for approximately 60 percent of the world's cocoa production. Initially, there was optimism for an improved yield in the upcoming season, but the severe infestation in Western North, Ghana’s third-largest cocoa-producing region, has cast doubt on this prospect. The virus initially reduces yields and eventually kills the trees within a few years, necessitating the uprooting of infected trees and soil treatment before replanting can occur.

Ghana spans 410,229 hectares of cocoa-growing land, with 330,456 hectares currently affected by the disease, as reported by the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of Cocobod, Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator. The ICCO also highlighted that swollen shoot disease is spreading in the Ivory Coast, although local authorities have been less transparent about the outbreak's severity. The organization noted that the Ivory Coast has halted forward sales of the next season’s crop at 940,000 tons, which is about 35 percent less than the previous year.

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