Chocolate Nations

Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa

Orla Ryan

From bean to bar-where does your chocolate come from?  Chocolate- the very word conjures up a hint of the forbidden and a taste of the decadent.  Yet the story behind the chocolate bar is rarely one of luxury.

This vivid and gripping exploration of the reasons behind farmer poverty includes the human stories of the producers and traders at the heart of the West African industry.  In doingso, Orla Ryan shows how only a tiny fraction of the cash we pay for a chocolate bar actually makes it back to the farmers, and how Fairtrade makes very little difference on the ground.

Contents

Prologue

1.Ghana is cocoa

2.Cocoa wars

3.Child Labour

4.Follow the money

5.From bean to bar

6.Fairtrade myths and reality

7.Trading games

8.Building a sustainable future.

About the Author

Orla Ryan works for the Financial Times in London.  She lived in Africa for more than four years, first in Uganda, and then in Ghana, where she worked for Reuters.