Mark Dearn writing in Think Africa:
...although their produce is readily gobbled up by consumers in its processed chocolate form, the 2 million cocoa bean farmers in West Africa who contribute 70% of the crop for a multi-billion dollar industry remain poor.On the need for value addition:
Increasing productivity, boosting investment and promoting diversification will all have marked benefits for West Africa’s cocoa farmers. But as Prof Cramer says: “There is a risk that fair trade diverts attention from prioritising what really reduces poverty, which is dramatic structural change.”More here
Kwame Nkrumah believed extricating a country from the “trade trap” of dependence on a primary export later processed overseas – as with the beans that make Divine chocolate – is critical for long-term economic development.