GLOBAL cocoa prices are soaring to record levels, attracting more Solomon Islands farmers to revive their abandoned cocoa plantations.
The rise in cocoa prices is largely due to a global cocoa shortage. Climate change-induced drought has ravaged crops in West Africa, which contributes around 80 percent of the world’s cocoa output.
According to the International Cocoa Organization, global cocoa supply will decline by almost 11 percent over the 2023-2024 season.
The world produces nearly 6 million tonnes of cocoa beans each year.
Almost two-thirds of this comes from West Africa. Most of the rest is produced in South America and Asia
It was revealed that consumers could start seeing the effect of surging cocoa prices as the world faces the worst supply deficit in decades, with farmers in West Africa struggling against bad weather, diseases and failing trees.
In Solomon Islands, existing cocoa farmers are now reaping the benefits of the surge in price and many rural farmers are excited.
Reports from Malaita said farmers are excited over the recent rise in cocoa price, which led to a significant increase in their earnings from this commodity.
A cocoa farmer in Central Kwara’ae, Ismael Siu told Malaita Issues Online that the current price for wet beans in his community has risen to $11, a record high that has sparked excitement and motivation among farmers.
“We are thrilled to see the rise in cocoa prices, as it has encouraged people to clean up and replant their cocoa farm plots,” Siu said.
“This boost in income is not only benefiting individual farmers but is also supporting economic growth within our communities,” he added.
In Auki, the price for dried cocoa beans has reached $36 and there is prospect that there will be a further increase in the coming weeks.
Farmers whose cocoa plantations have been covered in bushes are slowly returning to their plantations to clean them up.
Cocoa has more than tripled in cost over the past year and is up 129 percent in 2024.
The National Confectioners Association told CNBC that the industry is working with retailers to “manage down costs” and keep chocolate affordable for consumers.
Though the large chocolate companies were well-hedged last year and did not have to immediately pass on high prices to consumers, there is only so much the industry can do to absorb costs, a commodities analyst at Rabobank, Paul Joules said.
The world is facing the largest cocoa supply deficit in more than 60 years and consumers could start to see the effect at the end of this year or early 2025, he said.
“The worst is still yet to come,” Joules said. Cocoa prices will likely remain elevated for some time because there are no easy fixes to the systemic issues facing the market, Mr Joules added.
Solomon Islanders have been urged to venture into cocoa farming again in light of the declination of cocoa supplies in West Africa and make good money for themselves and boost the national economy.
By MOFFAT MAMU
