Chocolate: An Unlikely Rainforest Hero

Written by : Casey Chan 
Edited by:  Owen Wogmon

While certain crops are commonly found in our diet, we barely stop to consider the processes that transfer these foods from the field to our plates, let alone their level of efficacy. In fact, some farming processes are highly unsustainable and harmful for the environment. An example of such a farming process is intense monoculture, a practice in which one plant is cultivated in a specific region. Monoculture can lead to a depletion of water and nutrients in the soil.

While certain crops are commonly found in our diet, we barely stop to consider the processes that transfer these foods from the field to our plates, let alone their level of efficacy. In fact, some farming processes are highly unsustainable and harmful for the environment. An example of such a farming process is intense monoculture, a practice in which one plant is cultivated in a specific region. Monoculture can lead to a depletion of water and nutrients in the soil. 
​
The effects of unsustainable practices are clear, prompting the creation of organizations such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition [1]. The work of this organization and others has led to changes in agricultural processes. Growers practice sustainable agriculture by using methods to promote soil health, minimize water use, and lower pollution levels on farms [2]. One of the places where sustainable agriculture could make the biggest difference is not a traditional farm: It’s the rainforest. And chocolate, a seemingly unlikely crop, may be responsible for new efforts to protect these ecosystems.

​Some of the areas hit the hardest by human development are rainforests. Between deforestation and destructive blazes, these vital “carbon dioxide sinks” are slowly being depleted. Rich soil and fast-growing trees in rainforests absorb millions of tons of carbon dioxide, contributing to proper climate regulation [3]. While rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface, they now cover a mere 6%. The Amazon rainforest, commonly called Earth’s “lungs,” was highlighted in 2019 by news sources such as National Geographic because of its loss of more than 1,330 square-miles of forest cover [4]. Likewise, the resources of a rainforest in eastern Brazil called the Mata Atlantica have been gradually depleted due to wood harvesting and farming over hundreds of years. Only 7% of the Mata Atlantica still remains today [5].

In vital forests such as the Mata Atlantica, even small changes in harvesting processes could make a positive difference. Chocolate farming is being targeted for this improvement, and will hopefully give farmers an incentive to save the remaining forest. Chocolate was once a popular industry here, but in the past two decades, plant disease and low prices for cocoa beans have decreased its success [5]. Because of this, farmers began to make room for viable pastureland by logging and burning trees, instead of harvesting cacao beans [5]. However, new developments in chocolate farming are being implemented to preserve the forests [5]. 

Joao Tavares, a cocoa producer living in the Mata Atlantic region, is a perfect example of these new developments. He has 2,200 acres of rainforest planted with cacao trees, and practices a sustainable method of agriculture called cabruca farming. In this method, only a few of the rainforest trees are cut down, with the medium-sized cacao trees planted underneath them. This method works because cocoa beans grow in pods on shrubby evergreens that can survive under a forest canopy [6]. Shade-grown cacao plants store a higher amount of carbon than cocoa beans planted in full view of the sun [6]. Planting inside the rainforest helps the trees become more resistant to disease and insects, and, in turn, benefits the environment by preserving most of the rainforest trees. Additionally, shade-grown cacao trees are more tolerant of drought and weeds and create passages for wildlife between forests, enhancing biodiversity. 

Despite the positive aspects of this method, the issue is economic. Even though chocolate farming can restore devastated forests, the yield of such practices is low compared to commercially farmed monocultures. For this reason, many existing cacao farms are chemically intensive plantations. 

Cabruca farming cannot realistically compete with plantations due to the low yields of forest planting [7]. Other incentives must be given to cacao farmers, who are generally sharecroppers who generally do not have the resources to plant new trees or remove old, diseased ones. 
​
But there is still hope. A suggestion made by Dario Ahnert, a plant expert at the State University of Santa Cruz in eastern Brazil, is to reward farmers using carbon credits. A carbon credit is a “tradable permit or certificate that provides the holder of the credit the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide or an equivalent of another greenhouse gas” [8]. Farmers using the cabruca method could trade in these permits for financial compensation, thus being rewarded for preserving forest trees. This would eventually increase the popularity of cabruca farming as a method of gaining steady revenue. 
​
Although methods of sustainable chocolate farming cannot be implemented immediately, farmers are willing to make these changes if provided with financial resources. Chocolate is shaping up to be the unlikely hero in our struggle to preserve the natural world. 

​Works Cited: 

​[1] National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Our Work [Internet] [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. 
Available from: https://sustainableagriculture.net/

[2] University of California, Davis. What is Sustainable Agriculture [Internet] [Cited 2020 Feb.23]. Available from: https://asi.ucdavis.edu/programs/ucsarep/about/what-is-sustainable-agriculture

[3] E360 Digest. Study Finds Tropical Forests Are No Longer Carbon Sinks. Yale Environment 360 [Internet]. 2017 Sept. 29 [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. Available from:  https://e360.yale.edu/digest/study-finds-tropical-forests-are-no-longer-carbon-sinks

[4] Symonds A. Amazon Rainforest Fires: What’s Really Happening. The New York Times [Internet] 2019 Aug. 23 [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/world/americas/amazon-fire-brazil-bolsonaro.html

[5] Silberner J. How Chocolate Can Save the Planet. NPR [Internet] 2007 Nov. 19 [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. Available from: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16354380

[6] Pearson T. How Chocolate Can Help Save the Planet. Scientific American [Internet] 2020 Feb. 12 [2020 Feb. 23]. Available from:  https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-chocolate-can-help-save-the-planet/

[7] Ahnert D, Baliger V, Sambuich R.h.r, Vidal D, Piasentin F, Meneseza, A, et al. Cacau Cabruca Agroforestry System of Production in Bahia. Agricultural Research Service [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2020 Feb. 23], 241235. Available from: https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=241235. 
​
[8] Corporate Finance Institute. What is a Carbon Credit? [Internet]. [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. Available from: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/carbon-credit/

Stillman, J. What is Carbon Credit? CBS News [Internet] 2008 May 1 [Cited 2020 Feb. 23]. Available from: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-carbon-credit/

Cacao (Theobroma Cacao) [image on the Internet]. [updated 2017 Mar. 5, cited 2020 Feb. 23]. [Figure], Cacao (Theobroma cacao) (2858291812). Available from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cacao_(Theobroma_cacao)_(2858291812).jpg

Sonja, B. Sustainable Agriculture[image on the Internet]. Sustainable Agriculture, Nature Education. [updated 2011, cited 2020 Feb. 23]. [Figure], Sustainable agriculture gives equal weight to environmental, social, and economic concerns in agriculture.Available from: https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/sustainable-agriculture-23562787/