egg prices have soared this year because of worsening climate change impacts, according to researchers.
The development comes as the world's largest cocoa exporters - Ivory Coast and Ghana - have been hit by extreme weather in recent months.Analysis from the World Weather Attribution, which was released on Thursday, showed that climate change made the February heatwave in West Africa ten times more likely.
El Nino, a cyclical natural phenomenon in the tropical eastern Pacific which brings heat to the surface, can add an extra warming effect to the atmosphere and oceans on top of that from global greenhouse gas emissions, which continue to rise. Almost all cocoa globally - 99.9% - is grown in countries that are the most vulnerable and least well prepared to cope with worsening climate impacts, the ECIU said, citing data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Cocoa - the main ingredient in chocolate Easter eggs - has seen its global prices affected by climate change and El Nino conditions."Farmers in West Africa who grow the main ingredient, cocoa beans, of the Easter eggs many of us are looking forward to are struggling in the face of both extreme heat and extremes in rainfall," she said.
Jon Walker, Fairtrade's senior advisor for cocoa, said: "While high prices may seem like a windfall for farmers, once they eventually filter through to the farmgate, the underlying causes are worrying.