Cocoa Shortage Looms as Growers Opt to Farm Rubber: Commodities
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Cocoa shortages are poised to extend into the next decade as West African growers struggle with underachieving farms or switch to more lucrative crops, such as rubber.
As worldwide demand increases -- the average Chinese consumer eats only a little more than two candy bars’ worth of chocolate a year -- producers are considering ways to boost grower income and coax higher yields from cocoa farms in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Despite two years of shortages, prices haven’t risen enough to persuade many farmers to stick with cocoa while other crops pay more.