Analysis of daily maximum temperatures during the past decade shows climate change added at least three weeks a year above 32C during the main cocoa season in Ivory Coast and Ghana, just over two weeks above 32C annually in Cameroon and more than one week in Nigeria.
Christian Aid’s report was published at the same time as a study from Climate Central which revealed that West Africa’s “cocoa belt” across Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Nigeria was heating up with climate change.
In 2024, human-caused climate change added six weeks worth of days above 32C in 71 per cent of cocoa-producing areas across the four countries, higher than the optimum temperatures for growing cocoa.
Cocoa growing is being affected in other parts of the world too, with farmers such as Amelia Pop Chocoj, a cocoa grower in Guatemala, saying her plantations have been dying due to the lack of water, meaning there is no food for the family.
Christian Aid is calling for action to cut the emissions from fossil fuels and other sources that are driving rising temperatures, and for finance targeted towards cocoa farmers to help them adapt to the changing climate.
