Environmental Impact
The relative poverty of many cocoa farmers means that environmental consequences such as deforestation are given little significance.
For decades, cocoa farmers have encroached on virgin forest, mostly after the felling of trees by logging companies.
This trend has decreased as many governments and communities are beginning to protect their remaining forested zones.
In general, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by cocoa farmers is limited. When cocoa bean prices are high, farmers may invest in their crops, leading to higher yields which, in turn tends to result in lower market prices and a renewed period of lower investment.
Read more about this topic: Cocoa Bean
Famous quotes containing the word impact:
“Too many existing classrooms for young children have this overriding goal: To get the children ready for first grade. This goal is unworthy. It is hurtful. This goal has had the most distorting impact on five-year-olds. It causes kindergartens to be merely the handmaidens of first grade.... Kindergarten teachers cannot look at their own children and plan for their present needs as five-year-olds.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)