Securing the world's supply of chocolate

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Professor Paul Hadley examines a cocoa pod

As the UK celebrates National Chocolate Week, a University of Reading academic is leading the fight to combat the threat posed to cocoa by pests, diseases and climate change.

Professor Hadley, from the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development commented: "The biggest threat to cocoa comes from pests and diseases which already destroy about a third of potential cocoa production.

"Particular challenges for tropical crops are likely to include less evenly distributed rainfall patterns and higher maximum temperatures."

The University of Reading is leading the world's fight to ensure the sustainability of cocoa production. Using state-of-the-art greenhouses that simulate current and predicted climate conditions in cocoa growing regions, Reading researchers aim to help to develop new cocoa varieties better suited to likely future climates.

Cocoa is one of the most important sources of income for many countries in the humid tropics. Together, Ghana and The Ivory Coast produce nearly 70% of the world's supply.  For Ghana, where cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers, cocoa accounts for over 40% of total export revenues and two million people are involved either directly or indirectly in its production.

Professor Hadley is chairing the 17th International Cocoa Research Conference being held in Cameroon next week. This will be the first time a UK academic will hold this prestigious position. The event, held once every three years, will be attended by over 300 delegates from cocoa producing countries and the confectionary industry across the globe.

"This year's Conference is extremely important as it will set the agenda for cocoa research around the world for the next three years," continued Professor Hadley. "It's imperative that we continue to examine ways of achieving sustainable cocoa production so that we can safeguard the future of chocolate, a food which so many of us enjoy and which in turn provides an important source of income for farmers in many countries."