Health
The Andes were supposed to stop this cacao killer. They didn't.
Key Points
Black pod disease destroys up to a quarter of the world's cacao every year, roughly 700,000 metric tons worth more than $2 billion. The water mold responsible across the Americas is Phytophthora palmivora, and in Colombia it is the dominant Phytophthora on cacao. How it travels among the country's three Andean regions, though, has remained an open question.
Black pod disease destroys up to a quarter of the world's cacao every year, roughly 700,000 metric tons worth more than $2 billion. The water mold responsible across the Americas is Phytophthora palmivora, and in Colombia it is the dominant Phytophthora on cacao. How it travels among the country's three Andean regions, though, has remained an open question.