Cocoa and chocolate is consumed almost entirely in developed countries. The beans from which chocolate is made are grown in less developed countries in West Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

In the spirit of our meat guide, we at The New Food Economy are here to share insights that will help you better understand—and savor—the chocolate you spend money and calories on.

Later and more intense rainy seasons across parts of Africa due to climate change could have damaging consequences, a new study has found.

Tis the season to eat chocolate. And for the chocolate industry, there’s nothing sweeter, since this is the time of year when it enjoys a spike in sales and, at least for some, rising profits.

Cocoa prices ended 2018 with strong gains, leading generally firmer agricultural markets, but the year marked falls for most major commodities as increasing global economic uncertainty hit metals and oil.

Chocolate can certainly get one some brownie points, and no way is this truer than in Ivory Coastwhich in 2018 reported the largest agricultural trade balance in value terms in Africa, an amount of US$5.1 billion.

Demand from Asia’s growing legions of chocoholics has outpaced the ability of local farmers to supply cocoa beans, prompting a surge of shipments into the region from Africa and South America.

The world’s two biggest cocoa producers halted sales for the harvest that will begin in October 2020, pending an agreement with buyers on a minimum price.

 The last piece of chocolate you ate likely had its roots in West Africa, where two-thirds of cocoa beans are produced.

Just as the Cadbury brothers did more than 100 years ago, the programme works on the ground, hand-in-hand with the men and women who grow the essential ingredients used to make Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolates.

You can count on the fact that chocolate will, as always, be a mainstay of Valentine’s Day.

Recent reports show that UTZ, the leading certification body in the cocoa industry, has regularly certified cocoa from West African farms that have contributed to deforestation.

Cocoa production has been the backbone of Ghana’s economy since the 1870s. It dominates the agricultural sector and contributes about 30% of the country’s export earnings. Cocoa employs about 800,000 farmers directly.

Chocolate in all its forms is something that I, along with many others like to indulge in on an almost daily basis.

Ghana and Ivory Coast have hit out at several big chocolate companies and traders including Mars, Hershey and Olam, accusing them of trying to circumvent a premium on cocoa meant to help fight farmer poverty in west Africa.

Ivory Coast and Ghana asked cocoa and chocolate companies last week to pay more in premiums to support farmers' wages, the head of Ivory Coast's industry regulator told Reuters -

A cocoa pricing agreement designed to protect farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana from destitution is being circumvented by multinationals, the main buyers of cocoa beans.

 Shoppers may get a bitter surprise in their Easter baskets this year. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns eat into global cocoa supplies and the earnings of farmers in West Africa.

Across West and Central Africa’s tropical agricultural belt — and one of the world’s greatest biodiversity hotspots — cacao farming has taken off as demand for chocolate rises in the Global North.