Soaring cocoa prices: Diverse impacts and implications for key West African producers

Cocoa bean prices have been rising since the last quarter of 2023, hitting a record high of $10.97 per kilogram on April 19 (Figure 1). The price spike is due to a significant drop in bean production by major global suppliers—four key producing nations in West and Central Africa account for more than 60% of the world’s supply of cocoa beans: Cote d’Ivoire (with 38% of the global production in 2022), Ghana (19%), Nigeria (5%), and Cameroon (5%).¹

The current price spike was triggered by intertwined effects of climate change and El Niño, which led to erratic rainfall and higher temperatures in cocoa-growing regions, encouraging the proliferation of cocoa tree pests and diseases such as black pod disease and cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD). Collectively, these climate-induced shocks have substantially reduced yields.