Naughty gorilla instead of cute easter bunny

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Many cute chocolate bunnies are back on the shelves. But the lure of sweetness has a dark side: According to Fairtrade trader Gebana, three-quarters of the cocoa needed for its production comes from West Africa and is grown by millions of farming families who do not earn their living by working hard. The consequences are illegal deforestation for more land, extensive use of pesticides for greater yields, and child labor to reduce costs.

Or as science journalist Mathias Plüss writes in his book “Less is less – climate-friendly living from A to Z”: One in six cocoa beans on the world market comes from illegal plantations in Ivory Coast.

Liability due to supply chain law

“The trade groups that dominate the trade have been promising improvements for years,” writes Fairtrade trader Gebana. But nothing happened.

Now, instead of cute Easter bunnies, the fair trade merchant has bought “Angry Gorilla” made of chocolate from Togo, Switzerland. With this he wants to fight for a useful supply chain law for retail groups to take on more responsibility.

Cocoa needs a lot of water

But chocolate isn’t just a problem for cocoa producers. But also for the environment. In Switzerland, 11.3 kilos of chocolate was eaten per person in 2021.

According to the WWF, ten tubs of water are needed to make 100 grams of chocolate. In other words, it takes 1,130 tubs of water per year for a person in Switzerland to consume chocolate.

better in the jungle

The cocoa tree is a troublesome plant. It grows only in a very few equatorial countries and is mostly grown in Ivory Coast, but also in Ghana and Indonesia. The temperature should not drop below 16 degrees and the soil should be rich in nutrients, according to the WWF in a blog post.

Ideally, the cocoa tree is therefore grown in the shade of banana trees or palm trees, along with other plants. In such a near-natural agroforestry system, the perfect blend of agriculture and forest, plants benefit from each other.

But many cocoa plants thrive in the scorching sun and therefore require intensive irrigation, i.e. an average of 1700 liters of water, according to the nature conservation organization.

pure luxury

So chocolate is a luxury item, even though it doesn’t look like it in stores right now. In addition, researchers have warned for years that cocoa production could collapse in the future. Because climate change makes some agricultural lands unusable.

Extreme climatic conditions such as drought, heavy rain and floods ruin the harvest. Moreover, we should really enjoy the sweet side of chocolate.

Source : Blick