Theobroma cacao means food of the gods. It is also the botanical
name for the cocoa tree, a much-revered crop for thousands of years. Satisfying
the world's growing appetite for chocolate is an interesting case study in the
development of sustainable agriculture.
Nowadays over 20 million people world-wide depend directly on
cocoa cultivation for their livelihood. Almost 90% of
cocoa production comes from smallholdings of under 5 hectares. Use of
fertilisers is limited but that of insecticides and fungicides is required due
to the prevalence of pests and diseases. It is estimated that around
30% of the cocoa crop world-wide is lost to pest and disease attack. Chemical
treatment is however not always possible, due either to the nature of the pests
or because the chemicals are too expensive for most farmers. The use of
chemicals should in any case be minimised to reduce environmental pollution and
health risks to farmers.
Another challenge for cocoa cultivation is the increasing scarcity
of suitable growing areas. Increased global cocoa production from 1.5 million
tons in 1984 to 2.7 million tons in 1998 was almost entirely due to an increase
in production area, whereas productivity remained low. New production zones
were mostly set up on cleared forestland, which is becoming increasingly
scarce. Meanwhile, many of the traditional production areas have old poor
yielding trees that it would be wise to replace.
