Some Ghanaians are panicking over reports of the Chinese entry into the cocoa industry.
The Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences recently reported that the Chinese island of Hainan has exported cocoa beans to Belgium.
South China’s island province of Hainan was responsible for the exported cocoa beans.
The first batch of 500 kg of cocoa beans worth 3,044 euros (about $3,600), was produced in Xinglong, a township of Hainan with a tropical climate, China Daily reported.
“Cocoa is a raw material for making chocolate. With the increasing demand for chocolates, Hainan has been expanding its cocoa planting area and making breakthroughs in technological development,” said Hao Zhaoyun, a researcher with CATAS.
As Belgium is dubbed ‘kingdom of chocolates,’ exports to the country indicate that our cocoa production standards have been recognized by the international community,” Hao added.
Panic in Ghana
Ghana’s COCOBOD, the agency that handles issues related to cocoa farming and export in Ghana is assessing the impact of the impact of cocoa beans by China.
Although COCOBOD appears concerned, it maintains that the quantity of the Chinese cocoa export is too small to affect Ghana as the second largest cocoa producer in the world.
But there are concerns about the impact on price of cocoa beans on the world market if there is no increase in production and consumption.