Cocoa
The price of cocoa has climbed more than 20% to reach its highest level in two years. the high prices are due to a combination of factors: poor weather in West Africa where the majority of cocoa is grown and an increase in demand out of the US and Europe. A study commissioned by global chocolate giant Cadbury into the livelihood of cocoa farmers in Ghana examined production methods in Ghana, identified a number of
hindrances to local cocoa production but also exposed a far more worrying trend — that the average age of cocoa farmers was increasing, with young people choosing instead to move to cities where they could find better – paid work. Cocoa farming is extremely labour intensive
with most production concentrated in some of the poorest nations in the world, where cheap labour is abundant. West African nations such as Ghana account for about 70% of the cococa grown for the world market.
Edible Oil
The growing global demand for palm oil has fuelled a massive expansion of plantations across the forests of southeast
Asia and Africa but concerns have been growing for over a decade about the resulting environmental and social impacts. Communities in Asia and Africa are being pushed aside to make way for large plantations. Many organisations, including the World Bank, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Greenpeace and Walhi, have expressed deep concern at the resulting impoverishment of local communities and the growth of conflict around the concessions.