Cocoa farmers face mounting challenges as El Nino rages on
Publishing timestamp: 2023-10-09 21:54:22
Summary
The El Nino weather phenomenon is expected to last through January to March 2024, with a 71% chance of intensifying from November to January. This could significantly reduce the amount of arable land for cocoa cultivation, posing a threat to food security and endangering the livelihoods of farmers. Cocoa production is highly sensitive to weather changes, and frequent extreme weather events caused by El Nino and climate change can damage cocoa pod development and promote the spread of pests and diseases. West African countries, which are major cocoa producers, are most at risk from these weather changes. The financial damage of climate change can be costly for cocoa-producing countries, and the high intensity El Nino may result in severe economic disruption across Africa. Climate adaptation and mitigation efforts are needed to tackle these climate threats, but they can be costly and require significant investment. The article also mentions that cocoa prices have surged to their highest levels in 50 years. Despite the challenges, there may be some reprieve for cocoa farmers this year due to higher levels of rainfall easing the impact of droughts caused by El Nino.
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Keywords: cocoa farming, government finance, meteorology, cocoa markets, ivory coast, climate, weather events, cocoa (may'23), commodity markets, papua new guinea, climate change, environment and nature, environment, agricultural land use, weather, natural disasters, esg investing, investors, west africa, el nino, agriculture, indonesia, rainstorm, business news, ghana, climatology, new york, heat waves, agricultural science, droughts,
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/10/10/cocoa-farmers-face-mounting-challenges-as-el-nino-rages-on.html