Chocolate is all good. All chocolate is based on roasted and ground cocoa beans (Theobroma cacao). The species’ scientific name is inspirational: food (broma) of the gods (theos). In addition to almonds, the pulp of the cacao tree is also used to make ice cream, juices, jellies and even distillates. Originally from the Amazon region, cacao was domesticated and gradually cultivated in the humid regions of America long before the arrival of Europeans. In Brazil, cocoa is experiencing a difficult set of days. At the end of the last century he was a victim of bioterrorism in Bahia. A devastating disease, moniliasis, recently hit the Amazon.
Cocoa plantation in southern Bahia | Photo: Francisco Dreux/Shutterstock
In terms of health, agriculture is far removed from nature. The Portuguese knew this and chose plants in places far removed from their origin. Portugal already had wellfounded empirical experience in the selection and processing of fruit in the 16th century. It was the process of “education” and acclimatization of plants. Luís de Camões even mentioned the improvement found in peach (Prunus persica L.), in Os Lusíadas (Canto IX Est. 58):
“The snitch that came from the native land of Persia,
Best tornado in someone else’s country”.
They introduced different cultures to their invention of Brazil (coconut, orange, sugar cane and banana…) with the care to bring the best crops, unaffected by pests or diseases. For this purpose, they created a network of botanical gardens and acclimatization facilities on the Atlantic islands in the 17th century.
Coffee comes from Africa and the largest production takes place in America and Asia. Cassava and gum trees come from America and the largest productions are in Africa and Asia. Oil palm is African and has its largest production in Asia. All far away from the epidemics and diseases of their countries of origin. Cocoa is American and the two largest producers are in Africa: Ivory Coast and Ghana (50% of world production), far from American pests and diseases. Nigeria and Cameroon have significant cocoa production, far exceeding that of Brazil. The third world producer is Indonesia. There cacao trees and rubber trees grow happily, separated by two oceans of Amazonian diseases and pests.
Even when Brazil was a major producer, cocoa was grown in Bahia, isolated from the pests of the native Amazon. Cocoa brought much prosperity to the south of Bahia and for the country. A Bahian cacao civilization immortalized by Jorge Amado in books (Cacau, São Jorge dos Ilhéus) and characters. Until a militant and bioterrorist group brought the witch broom plague (Moniliophtora perniciosa) from the Amazon and introduced it to southern Bahia in the 1980s.
According to their own statements, they took the bus to Rondônia several times to look for the disease. On the way back, they tied branches with a witch’s broom to trees on farms chosen according to political criteria. The disease spread and destroyed crops. The revolutionary aim was to break up the cacao barons. You did it. And not only.
Cocoa infested with witch broom plague | Photo: Reproduction/USP
With the harvest, the lives and dreams of thousands of families of farm workers, small and large cocoa farmers and traders were destroyed. 250,000 jobs have been eliminated. This provoked the migration of around 800,000 men, women and children from the farms. The suicide ruined the economy of nearly a hundred communities, as shown in the film O Nó: Ato Humano Deliberado. Result? Everything will be forgotten, nothing will be repaired, said Milan Kundera.
The consequences of this plant protection catastrophe are still having an effect today in a region in which almost 3 million people live. Large areas of forested cacao were eventually cleared to make way for cattle ranching. In addition to the economic and social losses, there was enormous damage to the fauna, flora and biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest.
They introduced different cultures to their invention of Brazil (coconut, orange, sugar cane and banana…) with the care to bring the best crops, unaffected by pests or diseases. For this purpose, they created a network of botanical gardens and acclimatization facilities on the Atlantic islands in the 17th century.
The Brazilian annual production of around 450,000 tons fell to just over 200,000 tons. With witches’ brooms, Brazil’s participation in the international market fell from 6% to 0.2%. The presence of the witch’s broom in Bahia can still be felt today. Brazil is no longer one of the largest cocoa exporters in the world. become an importer. National production does not meet the demand of the chocolate industry. Cocoa processing capacity in Brazil exceeds 300,000 tons of beans/year. According to the National Association of Cocoa Processing Industries, which includes the three largest milling industries, the industrial capacity installed in Bahia alone allows for the milling of 275,000 tons of almonds/year. The mill park has medium and small processing units and at least a hundred brands of chocolate. Many use almonds directly to extract their products. With an average annual production of 209,000 tons/year between 2019 and 2021, the industry is importing cocoa to reduce idle time.
cocoa beans | Photo: Gustavo Mellossa/Shutterstock
Of the 218,000 tons of cocoa processed in the industry, 25% are imported almonds. And new problems arise. As if witches’ brooms and black rot weren’t enough, there’s also the tax issue. The import of African cocoa beans, which are bought by the national industry with tax exemption (disadvantage), lowers the price of the commodity in Brazil and harms Brazilian producers. And there is a risk that new pests may be introduced in shipments of almonds imported from the African continent or elsewhere.
Gradually, the country is reshaping the geography of cocoa. In recent years, unprecedented expansion of cocoa cultivation in nontraditional areas in the Caatinga and Cerrado, aided by irrigation, has begun. Cocoa plantations have been growing in Pará in the Transamazon region for two decades. The state already accounts for about half of national production. Its acreage of around 210,000 hectares creates around 340,000 jobs and up to R$ 1.7 billion per year. As a factor in social development, cocoa contributes to the generation of income for more than 30,000 smallholder families. Cultivation in Pará is expanding and requires caution as it poses serious health risks.
Some of the growth in acreage among small farmers in Pará relies on noncertified seedlings from nonregulated nurseries. This clandestine trade in propagating material even comes from Bahia and Espírito Santo, where the climatic conditions are different from those in Pará. The cocoa tree is a tree. Who guarantees the productivity and profitability of seedlings for years that have not been evaluated by research and specialists? A task force (Embrapa, Pará Agricultural Defense Agency, Ceplac…) is trying to legalize nurseries, raise awareness among producers and fight illegal activities.
Cacao lives under constant threats from irresponsible people, economic problems, health protection services without adequate resources, pests and diseases. Example: Thrush (Moniliophthora roreri). This fungus causes large losses in the production of cacao and cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum) from the same cacao family and increases costs (additional management measures and application of fungicides).
Cacao affected by moniliasis | Photo: Reproduction/MAP
Discovered in Colombia in the last century, its spread spread through Ecuador (1917), Venezuela (1941), Panama (1949), Costa Rica (1978), Nicaragua (1980), Peru (1988), Honduras (1997), Guatemala ( 2002) ), Belize (2004), Mexico (2005) and Bolivia (2012). Until recently, the disease was widespread in all Latin American cocoaproducing countries except Brazil. The increase in the circulation of people in the Amazon countries increased the risk of their introduction in Brazil.
The first hearth was discovered in July 2021 in an urban area in the municipality of Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre. Measures have been taken to eradicate the disease. In August 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) extended the phytosanitary emergency by one year due to the imminent risk of introducing this quarantine pest into Acre, Amazonas and Rondônia.
The Brazilian annual production of around 450,000 tons fell to just over 200,000 tons. With witches’ brooms, Brazil’s participation in the international market fell from 6% to 0.2%. The presence of the witch’s broom in Bahia can still be felt today. Brazil is no longer one of the largest cocoa exporters in the world. become an importer. National production does not meet the demand of the chocolate industry
Late last year, an outbreak of moniliasis was detected in riverine communities in Tabatinga in the Amazon, a region on the triborder border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Defense Secretariat, Embrapa and the Amazonian Agricultural and Forest Defense Agency confirmed the disease. Contingency measures will try to prevent the spread of moniliasis in other Cacao and Cupuaçu areas.
Brazil’s goal is to be selfsufficient in cocoa by 2025. By 2030, the country wants to take a leading position as a producer of cocoa and quality chocolate while protecting the environment. This requires a major advancement of technologies, products, processes and services in cocoa cultivation. Ceplac develops and disseminates new cocoa varieties that are more resistant to pests and diseases, as well as technologies to increase cocoa productivity: appropriate crop management; fertilization and fertigation; use of hybrid seeds and highyielding clones; pest and disease control; Optimization of products and processes in the postharvest and agroindustry.
Photo: Shutterstock
At Cacau Conecta AgTechs 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa) published a call for startups to solve production bottlenecks. Its final leg and awards took place last December during the Chocolat Festival 2022 in São Paulo, the largest chocolate and cocoa event in Latin America.
All of these efforts could fail if cocoa biosecurity fails. Agricultural activities in Brazil are and are vulnerable to bioterrorism. Suffice it to recall the seriousness of the possible introduction of bird flu, which recently arrived in Peru, or the reintroduction of swine fever. How to make growers, traders, consumers and authorities aware of the risks of attacks on crop health? How can a secret service prevent and contain bioterrorism? Without a union, thousands of small cocoa producers can become victims of the involuntary or criminal introduction of pests and diseases. And chocolate will remain expensive and bitter here.
Photo: Shutterstock
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