How The Appetite For Chocolate Destroys The Rainforests Of Ivory Coast

In West Africa, the booming appetite for chocolate is leading to the massive destruction of rainforests by cocoa traders, who illegally grab the land and turn the forests into cocoa fields.

The small West African country of Ivory Coast, where 40 percent of the global cacao supply stems from, is particularly vulnerable to this kind of deforestation. Cocoa traders who sell to Mars, Nestlé, Mondelez and other big brands buy beans grown illegally inside protected areas in Ivory Coast, where rainforest cover has been reduced by more than 80 percent since 1960.

Although many chocolate giants like Nestle or Hershey state they remain committed to sustainability in chocolate production, the demand for ‘dirty cocoa’ is on the rise.

According to the Guardian’s research, "cocoa is a monster that will eventually eat itself, scientists say. Farmers will miss the trees they cut and burned down for the very reason that their shade would have protected their cocoa plants from increasingly parched, dry seasons, driven by cutting down trees."

Yet, it’s not even the farmers, often exploited and underpaid, who benefit from this illegal trade.

“It’s white people who eat chocolate, not us,” one says.