Cocoa farmers do not eat standards

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For decades, the hard and honest work of smallholder cocoa farmers has fuelled wealth creation and the establishment of chocolate empires like Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Cadbury, Mars, Hershey´s, Ritter Sport to name a few. These farmers continue to produce cocoa, the basic ingredient for our favourite chocolate treats, under deplorable working conditions. For many, the water we use to flush our toilets would be an enviable treat because they do not have access to potable water. For others, access to sanitation and electricity are simply dreams that cannot be achieved within their lifetime. But far in the West, mainly in Europe and the USA, the beans of a year-long toil -fraught with risks from snake bites to pest attacks and in some cases, missed education – provides the foundation for chocolate: A sensual treat. A recipe for romance and display of caustic affection. A symbol of love.

Through smallholders cocoa farmers – two (2) million- Côte d´Ivoire and Ghana account for an estimated 2.9 million tonnes (62.5%) of global cocoa bean production in 2017/2018. This is almost a three-fold increase in their production compared with their output of 1 million tonnes in the 1989/1990 production season. However, such increases have not necessarily transformed into improved welfare of cocoa farmers. Rather, it has largely lined the pockets of multinational chocolate conglomerates and corrupt local national governments. Cocoa producers are estimated to receive less than 7% of profits from retail chocolate prices (Fig 1).

One cost that is often underestimated and underreported is the impact of increased cocoa production on forests and wildlife in both countries. The statistics, as well as the realities, are truly startling. Cocoa production accounts for 30% and 27% of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana respectively. In some cases, entire national parks have been wiped out. Your guess is as good as mine on what that means for the rich biodiversity, both flora and fauna of these countries. A recent publication by Mighty Earth and the World Bank offers some insights on the dynamics.

Global cocoa giants and increasingly certification schemes do not seem concerned with the poor living and working conditions cocoa farmers endure and how cocoa production is endangering wildlife. They are too preoccupied speculating cocoa outputs and optimising prices fluctuations to fill their own pockets and those of their shareholders. When the realities of Cocoa farmers are flagged, and fearing the impact it will have on consumers demand for their products, they are quick to offer lip services, make big commitments to end cocoa driven deforestation and, in some cases, they implement short-term and symptoms-masking inventions (dig a few boreholes, provide fertilizers, replace old cocoa trees) that will never address the root causes of cocoa farmer’s predicament. In many cases, these interventions reinforce the problem. Because the supply of fertilizers and training in best practices increase farmers output which in turn boost cocoa supply. The result is that cocoa farmers get punished by the fundamental law of demand and supply. Because an oversupply of cocoa beans certainly means plummeting price and its is farmers that are impacted the most. An example of this was during the 2016/2017 season where an oversupply shaved off more than a third of world prices, from USD 3000 per tonne to less than USD 1900 per tonne. Good news for companies. But a classic reinforcement of the chains that bind cocoa farmers, except this time, they had been made to work harder.

Governments of cocoa producing Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have not helped much either. Historically, cocoa was a means of power and it will continue to be in the as long as it is produced. When centralised, cocoa is an easy source of tax for governments of the largely informal sector dominated economies of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, where tax collection is a headache for both governments. Cocoa farmers have therefore and for a long time been “cash cows”. But the growing cocoa farmer population, currently two million in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and the implications of that for entrenching political power (both countries are democracies), means that the hen that has for long laid golden eggs can no longer be neglected. Simply put, cocoa equals power because whichever political party is able to satisfy cocoa farmers is one step ahead in the next election. It is therefore not surprising that the government of Ghana pulled a rabbit out of the hat to steady farm gate prices last year even when world prices plummeted by more than 30%. Given that election is fast en route, I do not expect any changes even if global prices drop by 100% this year.

Cocoa farmers by their sheer number can no longer be neglected in cocoa discourses and decision. How would anyone dare, given that they partly hold the key to democratic power. It is therefore not surprising that both governments recently issued a joint statement denouncing the impending International Standards Organisation (ISO) 34101 Standards on Sustainable and Traceable of Cocoa. Their main argument … guess what … COCOA FARMERS DO NOT EAT STANDARDS. For once, the cocoa farmer is being stood up for and rightly so is been stood up for by those who have long joined hands with others to impoverish them.

Let us face it, chocolate, a produce of cocoa has no perfect substitute. It is also a climate-sensitive crop that confined to tropical humid and forest regions. These regions are shrinking and at an alarming rate because of climate change. At the same time, the taste for chocolate is strongly ingrained in the gastronomic memory as well as sensual memory of its consumers, mainly in Europe and the US. Moreover, increased economic development has been positively correlated with chocolate consumption.

This means that the economic boom in China and India and a slow but surely growing Africa are eating more chocolate. The rates might not be exponential as predicted but it is still growing. With this, it goes without saying that Côte d´Ivoire, Ghana and black people, the main producers should be at the forefront of cocoa discourses. However, this is different in practice.

As one author puts it: “men, white people, the Netherlands, the Mars family and Barry Callebaut are among the most vociferous and powerful and influential actors who shape discourses on cocoa”. But this dynamic, I assure you is changing and I hope it does for the better. An early testament is Ghana and Côte d´Ivoire´s recent protest of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 34101 Standards on Sustainable and Traceable (ISO Cocoa Standards). This rare but highly encouraged action begs several questions: how is it that two countries responsible for a stunning 62.5% of a global commodity should reject a standard just when it is almost up for adoption? Were their inputs not solicit during the formulation of the standard? Or were such inputs invited and then discarded? Whatever it was, their justification that the standard is not smallholder friendly justified. In fact, nothing shy of making cocoa farmers the true kings they should have long been would suffice because cocoa is more than a commodity. It is power. It is fire. And if you play with fire … you will be burned. And neither party wants this.

The rejection of the ISO standard is, therefore, the first in a series of liberation flames that has been ignited. With the right amount of fuel, it will burn bright. So bright that the dark world within which cocoa farmers live will be illuminated. The rejection of the Standard is thus more than a mere proclamation. In many ways, it mirrors, illustrates and reaffirms the simple message of a great Pan-African, no less from Ghana, and born only a few kilometres from Côte d´Ivoire. It is this: we (Côte d´Ivoire and Ghana) are done taking rules –more like orders– from all of you: men, white people, the Netherlands, the Mars Family, Barry Callebaut et al. You have exploited our people for far too long to build empires for yourselves. You neither care about our cocoa farmers´ welfare nor our forests more than we do. We have had enough. If you want cocoa produced by your standards, you either partner with us as equals or go get your cocoa from elsewhere. Better still, plant them yourself – good luck with that.

As for cocoa farmers, their interests will be better addressed if they can better organise, because it is organisations that decide. Other actors at higher ends of the value chain, including even certification organisations, realise this and are consistently merging to increase their influence. With their sheer numbers, they (cocoa farmers) can pile more pressure on their local governments. This has not been done enough. Done properly, the pressure from within coupled with those from concerned consumers in the West who are demanding responsible chocolate, will eventually drive chocolate empires to act in a way that deliver the economic liberation worthy of cocoa farmers´ yearlong toil and waiting. It will also offer the remaining forests and the wildlife they posses some much needed breathing space. But until then, the struggle continues. In the meantime, I urge the governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to stand firm because cocoa farmers do not eat standards.

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Sustainable development goals addressed in this article