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Alt text: "A person in a brown work jacket is using pruning shears to carefully harvest a large yellow cocoa pod from a tree. The hands, clad in dark gloves, gently support the pod during the cutting process, surrounded by lush green foliage, highlighting the hands-on agricultural work involved in cocoa production."

Climate Effects in West Africa Cause Chocolate Prices to Soar Worldwide

May 1, 2024

Climate Effects in West Africa Cause Chocolate Prices to Soar Worldwide

Ask students: What unusual weather and other conditions have led to poor cocoa harvests? When did the unusual conditions that led to poor harvests begin in West Africa?

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If you’ve shopped for chocolate recently, you may have noticed your favorite items are either smaller or more expensive, or sometimes both. The price of cocoa — the key ingredient in chocolate — is the highest it’s ever been after nearly doubling in the last four months. As Ali Rogin reports, this worldwide shortage has been years in the making.

View the transcript of the story.

Remote video URL

Discussion Questions

  1. Who is interviewed for this story?
  2. What unusual weather and other conditions have led to poor cocoa harvests?
  3. When did the unusual conditions that led to poor harvests begin in West Africa?
  4. How much of the world's cocoa is produced in the West African region impacted by poor harvests?
  5. Why do poor harvests in West Africa have such a big impact on worldwide chocolate prices?

Focus Questions

  • Chocolate prices may represent a small part of our economy, but how greatly do you think the U.S. economy is impacted by crisis outside the U.S. such as catastrophic weather? What do you think the U.S. can do to lessen the impacts of overseas crises on the economy?
  • Media literacy: Why do you think the producers of this segment chose to focus on the cost of just one specific import?

Extension Activity

Some of the same weather patterns that are causing too much rain in Western Africa is also causing drought in the southern region of the continent. Watch the following video and discuss — how is the United States and the rest of the world impacted by catastrophic weather changes in Africa? What can international aid organizations including the United Nations do to help reduce the impact of these catastrophes?

Remote video URL

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.

PBS NewsHour Classroom
PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of NewsHour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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