According to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO), a major cocoa producing region in Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa grower, is 81% infected with swollen shoot disease.
Ghana’s Western North region, the country’s third-largest cocoa region by output, has been severely impacted by the outbreak. The ICCO cited data from Ghana’s Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), which showed that out of the region’s 410,229 hectares of cocoa growing area, 330,456 hectares are infected.
Swollen shoot virus first reduces yields before ultimately killing the trees, usually within a few years. Once a tree is infected, it must be removed, and the soil treated before cocoa can be replanted.
In April, the chief executive of Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator, Cocobod, Joseph Aidoo, revealed that a total of 500,000 hectares were infected across the country, equivalent to 25.7% of Ghana’s 1.94 million hectares of cocoa growing land. An additional 100,000 hectares were reported to be unproductive due to aged trees.
The ICCO also noted that swollen shoot disease is spreading in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, though authorities there have been more cautious about publicly disclosing the extent of the outbreak.
The widespread disease outbreak in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce about 60% of the world’s cocoa, has contributed to a roughly doubling of cocoa prices this year due to adverse weather and supply concerns. However, hopes are rising for improved output in the next season.
Steve Wateridge, a veteran world expert on cocoa and head of research at Tropical Research Services by Expana, described the swollen shoot disease as a “serious problem that’s not improved in the last 12 months and is not going away.”
The impact of the disease outbreak on Ghana’s cocoa production is significant, with the country expected to produce just over half of its typical annual output of more than 800,000 tons this season due to the disease, aging trees, illegal gold mining, climate change, and smuggling.