Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever this Easter as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa who are also fighting to preserve their land against unlawful gold miners.

The global supply of cocoa, essential for the production of chocolate, is currently facing significant threats, leading to an increase in the prices of chocolate products such as eggs and bunnies this Easter. These threats include changing climate patterns which are affecting the crops, and the challenges faced by farmers in West Africa. These farmers are not only struggling with the impacts of climate change on their cocoa yields but are also contending with the encroachment of illegal gold miners onto their lands.

Illegal gold mining activities in West Africa are exacerbating the problem by disrupting the cultivation and harvesting of cocoa, thereby affecting the global supply chain of chocolate. This combination of environmental changes and unlawful human activities is putting a strain on the availability of cocoa, resulting in higher prices for chocolate goods during significant seasons like Easter. The issues highlight the interconnectedness of environmental sustainability, agricultural practices, and global markets, underlining the need for solutions that address both climate change and illegal mining operations.



How illegal gold mining is causing a global chocolate shortage

This 27 hectare plot was teeming with nearly 6,000 cacao trees just last year. Today, less than a dozen remain. The stripped landscape, dotted with pools of cyanide-tainted wastewater, is a victim of illegal gold miners, also known as galamse. For Janet Giamfi, the destruction of her land is a devastating blow. My toil, my livelihood, all was destroyed and it's not easy. It hurts. It's not as if there's another job anywhere that I can rely on. I've no source of income anywhere. Giamfi had been resisting the galamseers' threatening demands to sell them her plantation when one day last June, armed guards blocked her entry and bulldozers ripped out her trees. And she is not alone in this case. Across the country, cacao plantations are ceding ground to gold miners. According to a study conducted four years ago by Ghana's cacao marketing board, Cocobod, around 20,000 hectares of land had been lost to galamse. If we have all these farms being lost, productivity affected as a result of illegal mining, then its impact on the industry is one we are really struggling to deal with. Another problem also looms. Climate change. Along the world's undisputed cacao powerhouses, accounting for over 60% of global supply, Ghana and neighbouring Ivory Coast are both facing catastrophic harvests this season. Furthermore, Ghanaian plantations are also battling a deadly virus which is killing the trees. Cocobod estimates that 590,000 hectares of land have now been infected with the swollen shoot virus. The situation may spell the beginning of the end of West Africa's cacao supremacy, opening the door for new producers, particularly in Latin America.

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