Drought prevents cocoa producers from taking advantage of high prices

The cocoa from the Soconusco region in Chiapas is considered one of the best in the world; However, faced with the most severe drought that the country has faced in several decades, small producers feel frustrated for not being able to take advantage of the historic international prices recorded for the fruit due to the collapse of their harvests.

This week, in international markets, the future price of cocoa reached an unprecedented level of 10,000 dollars per metric ton, an increase of more than three times if one takes into account that a year ago it was trading at approximately 2,900 dollars.

International prices are really very good, but here in the region we have very little production. The drought has hit us like it didn’t happen in decades, added to a fungus that is eating the little we have planted. The situation is frustrating and alarming.says Ismael Gómez, a small producer from Soconusco.

Cocoa in Mexico is only grown in three states, with Tabasco being the main producer with 64.3 percent of the total harvest, followed by Chiapas with 34.7 percent and Guerrero with just one percent. According to the Bank of Mexico, the value of exports in 2023 amounted to 669.8 million dollars.

The high prices are a consequence of the worst deficit (difference between demand and supply) for cocoa in decades. According to the International Cocoa Organization, a supply deficit of 374 thousand tons is forecast for the 2023-2024 season. Furthermore, he predicts that this is just the beginning, since the worst damage will be seen at the end of this year and the beginning of 2025.

In Mexico, the two factors behind the low production are drought (in the southeast of the country it has not rained since November) and the fungus. Moniliasiswhich according to Don Ismael, affects the fruit, causing it to harden, and although in appearance it reaches the point of ripening, inside it is totally unusable, so it has to be thrown away.

Production fell by at least 50 percent, and the little we make remains with the coyotes, who set the prices (intermediaries between small producers and companies), so of course we have not been able to benefit from those high prices.he points out.

Florencio Velázquez Bravo, another small producer from the Soconusco region, says that a few years ago a one-hectare orchard produced around 500 kilos of cocoa; However, because of the Moniliasisonly 300 kilos are now obtained, an amount that this year is expected to plummet to only 150 kilos due to the severe drought. It hasn’t rained since November, and if the water doesn’t reach us in May we are going to lose everything..

The little production they have, he points out, has been sold to coyotes at a price of 80 pesos per kilo, when a few months ago it was 60.

However, taking into account the current exchange rate and the 10 thousand dollars that a ton costs in the international market, it is obtained that each kilogram of cocoa has an approximate price of 166 pesos, that is, the intermediaries pay the farmers less. half of what it really costs.

Other crops at risk

The cocoa crisis is not isolated, since Soconusco producers point out that the drought is putting crops throughout the region at risk, including those with the highest production such as coffee, mango, watermelon, banana and corn, among others.

This drought is one of the strongest that I remember, last year’s was complicated, but now it is much worse. I remember something more or less the same about 15 years ago, when it didn’t rain a single drop until around June, when the water here usually reaches us no later than April. This gets worse every yearDon Florencio laments.

In addition to cocoa, he also plants coffee, another of the crops affected this season by the lack of rain, because while he has already lost half of his robusta crop, in the lower part of the region the producers have already lost practically everything.

Faced with this situation, both farmers ask for government intervention with more support, because, for example, they say, Sowing Life does not reach those who need it most.

We are living in really complicated times, all we have to do is tie our pants as they said before, and save a little of our crops at a loss to have something to eat for the next few months, for now let’s forget about saving and even less about building our houses.says Don Florencio. A complicated year is foreseen due to the lack of rain, there will be an acute crisis in the countryside, and I think this is only the beginningremata to Ishmael.