“With the previous prices, it was impossible to invest, but now I’ve bought more seeds and constructed a small bridge to cross the stream that used to flood the plantations,” the 42-year-old told AFP in a telephone call.
Gangs sniff opportunities
Ecuador, believed to be the original home of cocoa, is the world’s third-largest producer of the so-called “food of the gods,” according to its agriculture ministry.
It is also the biggest exporter of fine flavor cocoa, a premium variety prized by chocolate makers for its rich, fruity taste.
But 90 percent of its production is of CCN-51, a genetically modified variety created in the 1980s to resist the bugs behind an outbreak of cocoa swollen shoot virus (CSSV), a disease ravaging crops in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
“The current prosperity is no accident; we are reaping the benefits of years of private investment and research into a resilient variety,” said Ivan Ontaneda, president of Ecuadoran cocoa exporters group Anecacao.
African cocoa crops have also been wiped out by heavy rains and extreme drought, both of which experts have linked to climate change.
In December 2024, international cocoa prices hit a record $12,000 per metric ton on the back of the shortages, before falling back to about $8,500 dollars currently.
Anecacao estimates that around 400,000 producers and exporters have benefitted from the price surge.
But the boom has left a bitter taste for some: cocoa growers are growing targets for the extortion gangs that hold businesses to ransom across Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and other South American countries.
The rush to cash in on high prices also risks reputational damage to Ecuadoran cocoa.
Environmental groups have repeatedly warned of rampant deforestation related to cocoa production.
Despite the complaints, the European Commission in May kept Ecuador off its highly anticipated first list of countries at “high risk” for deforestation.