'In 30 years, there may be no more chocolate'

accra - There is a chance that there will be no more chocolate in stores in thirty years. The cocoa plantations suffer heavily from global warming and if a solution is not found quickly, the tree could die out. And chocolate too.

Cacao trees grow preferably in places near the equator where there is sufficient humidity and abundant rain, but it may well be that in the coming decades they suffer from the increasing temperatures as a result of global warming. This is what Daily Mail reports.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these would rise by 2.1 degrees over a period of thirty years. In countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, where a lot of cocoa is growing, they will therefore be obliged to move the plantations higher and therefore to a colder area, and that will be at the expense of the wild animals that live there.

The average Western consumer, according to the study Destruction by Chocolate, eats some 286 chocolate bars per year. Ten cocoa trees are needed for that amount for one person. They not only supply the necessary beans, but also the butter that is essential.

According to Doug Hawkins of research firm Hardman Agribusiness, the shortage of cocoa in the coming years would already amount to 100,000 tons. 'In contrast to many other agricultural branches, cocoa farming has not been able to benefit from new techniques. More than 90 percent of the global production is still in the hands of small farmers who work with outdated material, 'he says.

Although Hawkins also states that there is still time to innovate before global warming really strikes hard.