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One of the largest food commodities exported from the developing countries to the rest of the world, cocoa has gained increasing attention on the global market—raising many questions about its quality, sustainability and traceability. Cocoa Production and Processing Technology presents detailed explanations of the technologies that could be employed to assure sustainable production of high-quality and safe cocoa beans for the global confectionary industry. It provides overviews of up-to-date technologies and approaches to modern cocoa production practices, global production and consumption trends as well as principles of cocoa processing and chocolate manufacture. The book covers the origin, history and taxonomy of cocoa, and examines the fairtrade and organic cocoa industries and their influence on smallholder farmers. The chapters provide in-depth coverage of cocoa cultivation, harvesting and post-harvest treatments with a focus on cocoa bean composition, genotypic variations and their influence on quality, post-harvest pre-treatments, fermentation techniques, drying, storage and transportation. The author provides details on cocoa fermentation processes as well as the biochemical and microbiological changes involved and how they influence flavour. He also addresses cocoa trading systems, bean selection and quality criteria, as well as industrial processing of fermented and dried cocoa beans into liquor, cake, butter and powder. The book examines the general principles of chocolate manufacture, detailing the various stages of the processes involved, the factors that influence the quality characteristics and strategies to avoid post-processing quality defects. This volume presents innovative techniques for sustainability and traceability in high-quality cocoa production and explores new product development with potential for cost reduction as well as improved cocoa bean and chocolate product quality.
After almost 20 years of declining cocoa production, Ghana has been able in the last decade to increase the share of export prices going to producers and more than double production. Contrary to Washington Consensus prescriptions, these accomplishments were achieved through reforms that did not include market liberalization. In The Cocoa Coast: The Board-Managed Cocoa Sector in Ghana, the authors identify factors that have contributed to Ghana’s success in cocoa production. These include the accountability of the government for the sector’s performance (cocoa-sector performance being seen as a key dimension of economic management), its interest in maintaining the ability to raise funds globally as a reliable supplier of high-quality cocoa, and its policy of retaining a portion of producer revenues to promote the adoption of yield-enhancing measures. The authors also suggest how Ghana can improve the efficiency of the cocoa sector through measures such as increased transparency and curtailing services that would be better provided by the private sector. The Cocoa Coast will be a valuable resource for policy makers, development specialists, and others interested in different national development paths.
After almost 20 years of declining cocoa production, Ghana has been able in the last decade to increase the share of export prices going to producers, more than doubling production. Contrary to Washington Consensus prescriptions, these accomplishments were achieved through reforms but without liberalization of domestic and export marketing. The Cocoa Coast: The Board-Managed Cocoa Sector in Ghana seeks to understand the success of a sector that was not liberalized. The authors identify three major reasons for Ghana’s success in cocoa production. First, cocoa producers receive an increasing share of export prices, because of factors including a stakeholder-advised process for determining producer prices that also pays explicit attention to discouraging smuggling of cocoa to neighboring countries and the popular perception that cocoa performance is tied to the country’s general economic performance. Second, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has a policy of retaining a portion of producer revenues to promote the adoption of yield-enhancing measures. Third, centralized marketing and maintenance of the high export quality for which Ghana is known enables the country to offer stable prices to producers and opportunities for local businesses to participate in the sector and retain some power in the global value chain.
Chocolate has long been a favorite indulgence. But behind every chocolate bar we unwrap, there is a world of power struggles and political maneuvering over its most important ingredient: cocoa. In this incisive book, Kristy Leissle reveals how cocoa, which brings pleasure and wealth to relatively few, depends upon an extensive global trade system that exploits the labor of five million growers, as well as countless other workers and vulnerable groups. The reality of this dramatic inequity, she explains, is often masked by the social, cultural, emotional, and economic values humans have placed upon cocoa from its earliest cultivation in Mesoamerica to the present day. Tracing the cocoa value chain from farms in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, through to chocolate factories in Europe and North America, Leissle shows how cocoa has been used as a political tool to wield power over others. Cocoa's politicization is not, however, limitless: it happens within botanical parameters set by the crop itself, and the material reality of its transport, storage, and manufacture into chocolate. As calls for justice in the industry have grown louder, Leissle reveals the possibilities for and constraints upon realizing a truly sustainable and fulfilling livelihood for cocoa growers, and for keeping the world full of chocolate.
The cocoa industry is suffering from a number of interconnected problems: Be this the over-aged tree stocks, the repercussions of disease and pest infestation, the political instability in West Africa, a lack of agricultural professionalism, an absence of infrastructure, or the shortcomings of the educational and financial systems in the cocoa-growing regions. A further problem is exploitative child labor on cocoa farms. Instead of continuing to wait for an international, legally-binding solution, numerous private and multi-stakeholder initiatives have been formed within the cocoa sector aimed at creating greater economic wealth and fairness, social justice in the producing countries, as well as social responsibility and ecological sustainability along the global value-added chain. To this end, sustainability standards are increasingly being applied in cocoa production. As demand for raw cocoa will continue to rise - training, improved production methods, rising productivity and promotion of diversification guarantee that cocoa of a consistently high quality and in quantities to meet market needs is offered by farmers in the future, thus also securing their long-term livelihoods.
This book provides a detailed description and analysis of upgrading opportunities for small-scale cocoa farmers in Ghana. It shows how and why producers do, or do not, benefit from being inserted in a global value chain that is increasingly driven by multinational cocoa processors and chocolate manufacturers. The study contributes to the recent discussions on hybrid governance structures, in which both public and private actors play a role. Ghana provides a unique case because, unlike in other West African countries, its cocoa sector is only partially liberalized. The state still plays a strong role in the cocoa market. As "balancer", the state mitigates some of the risks involved in cocoa production for producers and international buyers of cocoa. However, the state is also a "bottleneck", as it prevents other public, private and civil actors from playing a more active role in the supply chain. The study explores the processes of in- and exclusion of cocoa farmers in value chains and highlights two risks of inclusion. First, for producers the arrangements within the chain are sub-optimal, and do not create incentives for farmers to behave as entrepreneurs. Moreover, farmers do not benefit equally from the arrangements in place. Second, the state is inward oriented and lacks an adaptive approach to global market changes, which entails a risk for the sector as a whole.
The cyclical boom-to-recession nature of the economics of cocoa supply is a major problem for the international cocoa industry - and especially for countries whose economies depend on cocoa exports. Only through an understanding of the dynamics of cocoa cycles can policy decisions be made through the various phases of supply cycles. Based on a major international cocoa conference, this book presents seventeen edited papers from leading experts, making a major contribution to that understanding. It explains the powerful economic, social and political factors which impact on the cocoa economy. It shows the laws of cocoa supply are closely linked to environmental, ecological and institutional factors.