Sustainable cocoa requires biodiversity
Date
Originating from the Amazon basin, cocoa’s natural habitat lies under the shade canopies of humid rainforests. Today, most of the world's cocoa comes from small, sun-drenched farms in West Africa. Driven by increasing consumer demand, cocoa farming encroachment into forests and other lands to increase yields, has caused deforestation and habitat degradation. A highly biodiverse cocoa farm has been shown to be drought, disease and pest resilient, and produce higher yields.