©IFAD Photo by Gerard Planchenault
Shovelling dried cocoa beans in Sao Tome. The economy of this small island
is dependent on cocoa, which accounts for approximately 90% of its exports.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1. “Who gets the biggest bite”? Try the quiz first and then check the answers (don't cheat!). Which cocoa producing country is mentionned in the exercise?

2. Go to this site and in the list of countries on the left choose Ghana and United Kingdom. In the Demographics and economics list select indexes that show the level of development. Click on the “Compare” button. What can you say about the level of development in Ghana and in the UK ? Justify your answer.

3. Read this page: what is the importance of cococa for the economy of Ghana?

4. According to the map, where are cocoa growing countries located? Why (read the "Facts on Cocoa Crops")?

5. Compare the two pie charts on this page: which type of countries produce cocoa? Where is it consumed? Why?

6. Following are world's Top 7 producers (in thousands of tonnes of ground cocoa):

Netherlands	410
USA	410
Germany	250
Ivory Coast	200
Brazil	180
UK	175
France	105

 

Which is a primary good: cocoa or chocolate? Which is a manufactured good? Which is more expensive, the raw material or the manufactured good? Compare the list of cocoa producers (on the pie chart in question # 4) with the list of chocolate producers above: what do you notice?

7. Compare the evolution of cocoa prices and cocoa production on this graph. What happened and why?

8. Fair Trade : What is it about?
To answer this question, read the 4 chapters of the “dubble story”. Write five sentences summarizing what you have learned.

9. Read this page and summarize the advantages of producing cocoa in small farms instead of large plantations.