Cocoa
After soybeans and oil palm, cocoa (Theobroma cacao) is the third most extensively cultivated crop in the Amazon (Killeen, 2023). Production is primarily concentrated in the western Amazon, with Peru as the largest producer, followed by Brazil and parts of Ecuador (Killeen, 2023). Most cocoa in the region is grown by smallholder farmers, often on plots less than five hectares (Killeen, 2023).
The situation with cocoa is complex. Most varieties are shade-loving and grown beneath the rainforest canopy, meaning that—unlike full-sun crops—cocoa farming often retains overhead forest cover (Killeen, 2023). This is crucial because maintaining canopy cover helps protect the Amazon from hitting a critical evapotranspiration tipping point—a scenario in which deforestation dries out the forest and pushes it toward irreversible degradation (Killeen, 2023). In this respect, cocoa is sometimes seen as a “lesser evil” compared to other land uses such as soybean fields or cattle pastures.
However, growing cocoa is not without its environmental costs. Understory vegetation is typically cleared, soil fertility declines over time, and the use of fertilizers and pesticides is common (Killeen, 2023). Once the soil becomes too degraded for cocoa, the land is often converted to cattle pasture, entrenching long-term ecological damage (Killeen, 2023).
This pattern has already played out in West Africa, where nutrient depletion has forced farmers to adopt sun-tolerant hybrid cocoa varieties, such as CCN-51, and to grow them in full sunlight to maintain yields (Mongabay, 2022). Although this strategy increases productivity in the short term, it leads to faster soil degradation and greater reliance on chemical inputs. If similar soil depletion occurs in the western Amazon, the same shift to full-sun cocoa could follow—amplifying the risk of deforestation and undermining the very benefits cocoa initially provided.
Another concern is that chocolate is made not only from cocoa but also from soy lecithin and palm-derived fats. As a result, cocoa farming indirectly encourages the expansion of soybeans and oil palms, which are among the leading causes of deforestation in the Amazon (Mongabay, 2022). Even when cocoa itself preserves the canopy, its role in the broader chocolate supply chain can contribute to forest loss elsewhere.
When it comes to consumption, the largest consumer of Amazonian cocoa is Brazil. The country possesses the entire domestic cocoa supply chain—from cultivation to processing—and consumes most of the cocoa grown within its own Amazon region (Santelli, 2023). Brazil also ranks among the top global consumers of cocoa overall, outpacing all other countries in the use of Amazon-grown beans (Santelli, 2023).
References:
Killeen Timothy J.(2023) A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness Second Edition
(October 28, 2022) What is the environmental impact of chocolate? # consumed Mongabay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srWSz1Ln2ao
Santelli, Adele (April 6, 2023) The history of cacao in the Amazon from arrival in Brazil to alternative for the local bioeconomy InfoAmazonia