India, Feb. 6 -- A new study suggests that ongoing climate change is likely to affect cocoa production in West and Central Africa. The area is responsible for over 70 per cent of the world's cocoa production.

The study was conducted in the four main cocoa producing countries - Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria (west Africa) and Cameroon (central Africa). Ivory Coast and Ghana are the largest producers followed by Nigeria and Cameroon.

The research replicated both the mean and variability in yield over a 30-year period in the past (1980-2010) and in the future (2030-2060). The report was published in the journal Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.

The scientists employed a mechanistic cocoa crop model known as CASEJ, which replicates the key...