Legends of Chocolate: From Cup to Cope
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Imagine going to the coffee shop and ordering your favorite drink and being told: “This beverage is not available anymore”. A nightmare is to know that the cup of your joy is going extinct, right? Everyone has a favorite drink with a special taste. They are from significant plants that have lots of stories to tell. In recent years, climate change, due to global warming and pests, has created a perfect storm that threatens their existence, and it is time to ask ourselves: Can we cope with a future without a cup of chocolate?
The Cocoa Bean
The legend dates back to more than 5000 years ago, when ancient people used to think that money really did grow on trees! The “Toltecs”, related to the Aztecs, worked hard to find food, but they did not know how to grow it properly, so they remained poor and hungry. The gods sympathized with them and descended to earth to teach them about harvest and food, and they became expert farmers.
“Quetzalcoatl”, one of the gods, wanted to give the Toltecs a gift. It was a special tree with small leaves growing from its branches, discovered by the gods in the mountains. Once the tree fruited, “Quetzalcoatl” taught the Toltecs how to collect its pods and smash the seeds in it, and they enjoyed it for many years. Being so precious, the beans were prepared as a beverage among nobles, and were used as a currency too. The special drink spread to neighboring countries with various recipes, and the Theobroma cacao tree became the source of our beloved cocoa and “Chocolate".
Originating in the Amazon rainforest, the cacao plant has been grown for thousands of years in tropical areas and spread northwards; yet, it never grew in the mountains! With its various products, cocoa is often viewed as one of the greatest gifts of ancient civilizations to the world. Humans consumed cocoa as a beverage for most of its history, then appeared the term “chocolate”, which is relatively new; the technology in the mid-1800s made it possible to produce solid chocolate.
Back to the plant, the cacao trees thrive in rainforests. They take about 5 years to bear the pods—a cucumber-shaped fruit that workers cut after they ripe and remove the seeds that are then dried. The trees can prosper under certain conditions, including nitrogen-rich soil, high humidity, abundant rain, uniform temperatures, and protection from the wind. They grow within 10°–20° North and South of the Equator. Leading producers of cocoa are Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana; together they produce over 50% of the world’s cocoa. In both countries, cocoa has played a key role in the conservation of their forests and biodiversity.
Over the next decades, these places would be less suitable for cacoa cultivation as they would grow warmer and drier; recent research has shown that progressive climate change will affect cacoa plants. Like coffee, cocoa has a major importance in several countries for smallholder livelihoods and ecosystems. The threats are different; having no substitute, cacoa plants will not be affected by rising temperatures alone as coffee plants. The danger is from an increase in evapotranspiration; as higher temperatures squeeze water out of the soil and plants, it is unlikely for rainfall to increase or substitute that moisture loss.
Predicting the future of cacoa farming is not simple, but if we carry on as before, we will see the end of our favorite treat soon. In a report on climate change, a team of researchers expected that by 2050, the rising temperatures will push the cacoa cultivation areas uphill. The areas that show improved cultivation conditions are often hilly terrain, to pose another question: Which is more important? Meeting global demands or preserving natural habitats? That is why other solutions are on the table.
Some of the adaptation strategies are providing cacoa farmers with drought resistant seeds; the cultivation approach also has to be monitored. The cabruca in Brazil is an example of a successful approach that provides the trees with shade, for example, and could help decrease both temperature and evapotranspiration. That is all about cacoa farmers, who can plan for the future and keep producing our favorite treat; what about you?
Where would you be without these precious trees? I will tell you, still in bed. The choices we make everyday affects our lives; even if we do not see that impact. We sometimes take things for granted, but we need to contemplate our world's various species. They face threats of climate change and habitat destruction as we do; nevertheless, we are the main culprit. Outreach and education are important components of the response; we must learn how to help conserve and protect these species that we have been depending on for decades before they cease just in a few decades.
References
ambius.com
britannica.com
climate.gov
delishably.com
doi.org
dw.com
espresso-international.com
iadb.org
kids.britannica.com
mashed.com
noharmdone.co
science.org
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