Unsustainable farming
Because of low revenues farmers cannot invest in the maintenance of existing trees or in planting new trees on their plantations. Instead of replacing old and diseased cocoa trees, they often use new farmland for cocoa - at the expense of sustainable, ecological and diversified farming. By intensive farming they wear out the soil and are then forced to put even more land under cocoa, sometimes clearing rainforest lands, as well. This has implications not only for the environment, but also to farmers´ income. Up to 40% of the cocoa crop is lost every year due to incorrect maintenance.