This Valentine’s Day, chocolate comes with new risks
Al Jazeera
February 14, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
This Valentine’s Day, chocolate lovers may notice a shift in prices and availability due to unprecedented challenges facing the cocoa industry. Climate shocks, deforestation, and disease have disrupted cocoa production, leading to increased volatility in the market. While prices have dropped from last year's highs, the days of consistently affordable chocolate are likely gone for good. The root of the problem lies in the interconnectedness of climate change, land use, and agricultural practices that are destabilizing one of the world’s most important crops.
Cocoa production is concentrated in a few key regions, including Ivory Coast and Ghana, which together account for nearly 60% of global output. In recent years, extreme weather events—such as droughts and heatwaves—have devastated harvests in these areas, causing prices to surge by over 300%. This volatility reflects not just environmental stress but also decades of deforestation and land conversion for cocoa farming. Forests play a critical role in maintaining the microclimates and soil health that cocoa relies on, yet they are being lost at an alarming rate.
The issue is compounded by the way cocoa is grown. Traditional full-sun farms may yield higher short-term profits but come at a cost: depleted soils, reduced resilience to droughts, and fewer natural resources for farmers. This destructive cycle drives further deforestation as struggling farmers expand into new areas, exacerbating biodiversity loss and weakening the ecosystems that support cocoa production
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Originally published on Al Jazeera on 2/14/2026