§ 77. Mr. A. Edward Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reasons account for the recent drastic increase in the price of West African cocoa; and how far it is due to a lack of European supervision and pest control in the cocoa growing areas.
§ Mr. Rees-WilliamsThe increase is part of a rise in world prices for cocoa resulting from a decline in production accompanied by the maintenance of demand on the prewar lever or higher. The decline in output in British West Africa is due partly to disease and partly to exhaustion of old cocoa areas. The only effective means of eradicating the disease so far discovered is to cut out the trees affected, and that task is being vigorously tackled by the Gold Coast Government; but as it takes some years for new trees to come into bearing I fear that the degree of success of that campaign is not a very material influence on the current price.