Ivory Coast cocoa output could fall 25% on El Nino

Ivory Coast's cocoa production could fall by 21 percent to 25 percent because of an exceptionally strong El Nino, the country's public meteorology body Sodexam estimated.

Sodexam said the climate episode was expected to bring lower rainfall, higher temperatures and a longer dry season to the world's leading cocoa producer. It said water shortages and high heat could cause young cocoa pods to shrivel and drop early and could strip leaves from trees.

The body warned that lower production could cause a major loss of income for growers and reduce state export revenues.

Ivory Coast accounts for nearly 40 percent of global cocoa output. Cocoa represents 15 percent of the country's GDP and supports about five million people in a population of more than 33 million.

El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, changing wind and rainfall patterns around the world on top of human-driven global warming. It is expected to peak in December, but its associated extreme temperatures, floods and droughts are expected to have effects into 2027 and beyond.

Ivorian scientists have been working on cocoa varieties that need less water as climate change makes weather events more unpredictable.