Harvest time (and choices): why cocoa can save or destroy the forests

As cocoa pods grown in agroforestry systems through Treedom projects are being harvested in Tanzania, soaring global prices are fueling intensive plantations elsewhere—threatening biodiversity. Supporting a different model is possible, right now.

In Tanzania, over these weeks, the hands of farmers we’ve been working with for years are picking ripe cocoa pods from the trees: it’s harvest time. An ancient gesture, repeated for generations, but which today carries a new and greater meaning. Because these cocoa beans don’t come from monocultures—they grow alongside fruit trees, legumes, shade plants. This is the heart of the agroforestry method Treedom promotes: planting cocoa together with other crops, creating small ecosystems teeming with life.

Just as this seasonal ritual takes place in Tanzania, the global cocoa market is living through a historic moment: record prices, steadily rising demand, and enormous pressure on producers. It’s a situation that reveals the contradictions of our time and forces us to ask: what kind of cocoa do we want? The kind that depletes soils and destroys forests, or the kind that protects them and creates a future?

The price of cocoa soars—and so do the risks for forests

At the start of 2025, cocoa prices reached unprecedented levels, topping $10,000 per ton, as reported by FoodNavigator. Behind these figures lie complex factors: extreme weather damaging harvests, plant diseases, financial speculation. But above all, a global demand that keeps growing, driven by the chocolate industry and rising consumption in Asia and emerging markets.

At first glance, this might seem like good news for farmers: higher prices mean higher incomes. But the reality is more complex. To meet market demand, new plantations are being opened in many countries, often at the expense of forests.

A prima vista, potrebbe sembrare una buona notizia per i coltivatori: prezzi più alti significano più reddito. Ma la realtà è più sfumata. Per rispondere alla richiesta del mercato, in molti paesi si stanno aprendo nuove piantagioni, spesso a spese delle foreste.

The cocoa rush threatens biodiversity everywhere

A study cited by The Guardian showed how, in recent years, vast protected areas in Ivory Coast and Ghana have been turned into illegal cocoa plantations. And this isn’t an isolated case. It’s a global trend: commercial pressure drives both small farmers and large companies to look for new land, sacrificing precious ecosystems.

In these cases, cocoa is grown in monocultures: neat rows of identical trees that exhaust soil nutrients, leave bare ground between trunks, and increase vulnerability to diseases and pests. It’s a system that may seem faster and more profitable, but which, over time, impoverishes both communities and nature.

It’s the logic of “more cocoa, faster, at any cost.” But too often, that cost is paid by the forests.

The alternative path: planting cocoa with other trees

There’s another way to grow cocoa: slower, but wiser. Agroforestry: planting cocoa alongside other species—fruit trees, nitrogen-fixing plants, forest trees. This creates small agricultural forests that:

• protect biodiversity, offering refuge to insects, birds, and small mammals;

• prevent soil erosion and improve natural fertility;

• absorb CO₂, helping to combat climate change;

• diversify farmers’ income, who can also harvest and sell fruit, timber, honey.

It’s not just an agricultural technique—it’s a philosophy that puts balance between economy and nature at the center.

The Treedom method: not just cocoa

Since 2018, Treedom has supported cocoa planting projects in Tanzania using the agroforestry model. Not just cocoa, but also mangoes, bananas, coffee trees, apricots, windbreak trees, and plants that enrich the soil. Every tree planted is geolocated and photographed, telling a story that grows over time.

This model brings real benefits:

• it guarantees income to farmers, not just when cocoa prices are high;

• it makes plantations more resilient to diseases and climate change;

• it helps keep local ecosystems alive.

In Tanzania, as this year’s beans are harvested, these small agricultural forests are growing. And with them grows the hope for a different kind of cocoa: truly good—for those who grow it and for the planet.

July: a chance to invest in Tanzania’s future

To celebrate this harvest time, Treedom has chosen July for a special summer promotion: throughout the month, you can plant not only cocoa trees but many other species in Tanzania, at a special price.

A gesture that goes beyond a simple gift: it’s an investment in a greener, fairer, and more vibrant future. A future where cocoa doesn’t destroy forests, but helps them come back to life.

A harvest that speaks of tomorrow

In Tanzania, these harvest days are a quiet celebration: hands opening cocoa pods, seeds that will be fermented and turned into chocolate. It’s the result of choices made years ago, when someone decided to plant not just cocoa, but a small forest.

Today, those choices bear fruit. And tomorrow? That depends on us. Because every tree we plant today is a promise kept: that even cocoa can grow without destroying, bringing wealth and life to places where once there was only bare earth.

It is harvest time, yes. But above all, it’s time to choose what kind of harvest we want to see tomorrow.