Ivory Coast and Ghana, which grow the majority of the world's cocoa, have threatened to suspend programs that chocolate manufacturers use to certify to their consumers that they're sourcing cocoa sustainably - without forced child labor and without the clearing of protected forests, Bloomberg reports.
Ivory Coast’s industry regulator, Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao, argues the sustainability programs serve a limited number of farmers, while raising average cocoa prices will allow all farmers there to make more money. However, there are concerns higher income will encourage farmers to overproduce cocoa.
