“I’m willing to do the job.” His literacy and English skills help him serve as a liaison between his fellow farmers and the government, which is the primary price-setter for cocoa beans in Ghana. The exorbitant prices paid for cocoa beans and chocolate products in the United States and other nations barely touch the lives of Frimpong and those around him. The poverty of cocoa farmers is sometimes seen as a moral failing of chocolate buyers or sellers, but above all it’s a market failure. In a healthy market, price spikes are self-correcting: When the price rises, production increases to take advantage of the extra profit opportunity. They don’t have the funds for long-term investment in new cacao trees, which are the source of cocoa beans, or for adequate fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and labor-intensive pruning.

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Persons: Emmanuel Frimpong, couldn’t, “ I’m, ” Locations: Ghana, United States, Frimpong, Ivory Coast