Articles

ECONOMIC CONTRADICTIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF COCOA PRODUCTION IN WEST AFRICA

Received: 15.01.2026 Published: 15.01.2026

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Abstract

The article identifies economic and environmental contradictions of cocoa production in West Africa using the example of the main producing countries - Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria, which account for more than 70% of the world's cocoa beans. It was revealed that the extensive model contributed to regional dominance, which led to deforestation of these countries, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and chronic poverty of producing farmers. The monoculture systems used for growing cocoa trees for a long time ensured the explosive growth of the industry, but created the threat of its collapse and led to increased climatic risks. The scientific novelty of the study is in complex identification of systemic conflict between the short-term economic strategies of West African countries (extensive path and monocultural cultivation) and long-term imperatives of environmental sustainability, which is considered through the prism of the duality of national agricultural policies and their inconsistency with the new international regulators (EUDR) for the first time. The necessity of transition to agroforestry practices and synchronization of national agrarian policy with international requirements is substantiated. The proposed measures can break the vicious circle of "poverty – intensification – ecological collapse".

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Для цитирования:

Гаврилова Н.Г. ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКИЕ ПРОТИВОРЕЧИЯ И ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ РИСКИ ПРОИЗВОДСТВА КАКАО В ЗАПАДНОЙ АФРИКЕ // Экономическая среда. 2026. Т. 15, № 1. С. 160–170.

For citation:

Гаврилова Н.Г. ECONOMIC CONTRADICTIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF COCOA PRODUCTION IN WEST AFRICA // Economic Environment. 2026. Vol. 15, no. 1. P. 160–170.

How to Cite

Гаврилова Н.Г. ECONOMIC CONTRADICTIONS AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS OF COCOA PRODUCTION IN WEST AFRICA // Economic Environment. 2026. Vol. 15, no. 1. P. 160–170.

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