The last decade has seen a rise in demand for sustainable farming and food sourcing, best exemplified by the rise of sustainable chocolate bars. In hopes to shore up a key economic sector and improve wages for cocoa farmers, the two largest cocoa producers in the world, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana established the CIGCI in 2018 as a way to promote sustainable cocoa farming. The Cote Ivoire-Ghana Initiative was created in the hopes of other countries joining in the future, and now that future has come. Cameroon and Nigeria, two other major cocoa producers in West Africa, have officially requested to join the initiative. When they officially become members, the Cocoa Initiative will represent nearly two thirds of the worlds cocoa production, and be able to wield significant power when negotiating with other cocoa and chocolate industry entities.
In western countries, like the United States, sustainably sourced food and the ethics and pay behind products we see on store shelves has come under increased importance over the last few years. A number of incredibly successful chocolate brands have come to prominence in recent years off of this idea alone, marketing their chocolate with farmer collectives and ethical sourcing in mind. The cost of this business model is reflected in their cost, however; chocolate bars from brands such as Endangered Species Chocolate cost anywhere from $4-$7 a bar, compared to $1-$2 for a generally bigger Hershey chocolate bar. With the initiative now representing nearly two thirds of all cocoa production, we are going to see higher and higher costs for cocoa derived products, primarily chocolate. Personally, I am more than happy to pay more for good chocolate if it means the people making it are well treated and well paid. A good tasting food and a great ethically sourced feeling.
The cocoa initiative is great example of reciprocal agreements as a solution to the collective goods problem. By giving up individual bargaining power, the members of the initiative are gaining greater influence in the cocoa industry, and ideally will be able to bring in greater and greater returns for their cocoa farmers, ideally boosting major aspects of their economy and helping their countries on the whole. But as we have seen numerous times, if the returns from the initiative for certain countries don’t outweigh what they are giving up, it may fall apart incredibly easily.
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