Tag: cocoa

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Ivorian Farmers Block Cocoa Deliveries Again

I reported last fall that Ivorian farmers, upset over the fact that traders were not paying them the indicative price set by the Cocoa Management Committee, had blocked cocoa deliveries to ports.

Now they are threatening a blockade again, this time to protest the fact that they have not received the funding to buy fertilizer.  According to Bloomsberg, Christophe Gbe, president of the Ivorian Federation of Coffee and Cocoa Producers, threatened to stop all cocoa deliveries and to expand the action to all producer delivered to ports should the Cocoa Management Committee not accede to the farmer’s demands.

Farmers on the ground, however, seem less concerned with the blockade. Some growers have announced support for the action but likely will not participate in the blockades. Others have yet to get ready for any action. No word yet how this will affect cocoa prices for the next months.

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Ancient Cocoa Traces Found at Chaco Canyon, NM

Theobromine, the key component of cocoa that gives us that little boost when we eat our favorite chocolate, also stays around a while. A long while, to be exact. So when ancient peoples didn’t wash their dishes well, some traces  of theobromine stayed behind and, thousands of years later, we can detect those traces and link them to specific dates. Well, at least specific date ranges.

Last July, I wrote about the oldest trace of cocoa found in Soconusco, now Chiapas, Mexico. That find was important because it dated cocoa consumption to some time in 1900 BCE. But the location as such was no surprise because Soconusco was a know cultivation area of cocoa throughout the times of the Olmec, Maya and Aztecs.

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On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 3

On to the final part of my response–the role of science. Both comments advanced a view of science as the savior of poor African farmers. I beg to differ.

But let me first clarify. I’m not opposed to science. I understand that science has brought about important breakthroughs in agriculture. But I reject the view of science as a value-free zone that exists in a vacuum, separate from the rest of the world. Science is always for someone and for some purpose, to paraphrase Robert Cox.

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On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 2

In my last post I challenged the “ceteris paribus” thinking of the two critical comments. Here, I’d like to focus on the larger historical context.

Take the closing sentence of the second comment: “Enough is enough! Give African farmers the tools and knowledge they need to lift themselves out of poverty.” A noble sentiment, to be sure, but one that seems to leave out some important questions.

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On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 1

My recent post on the silences of the Sustainability Principles announced by the World Cocoa Foundation elicited two comments from some rather high-powered sources. First came a comment from someone at the Sustainable Tree Crops Program which is actively engaged in training cocoa farmers through its farmer field schools and which receives some of its funding from the WCF. This was followed by a comment from Jim Gockowski, who’s with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a multinational/multidisciplinary organization promoting science as a means to reduce poverty and malnutrition around the world. I guess I ought to be gratified that my blog has caught the attention of folks at those levels. So here’s a reply.

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