TANJUNG REJO, Indonesia (AP) — The loud whirr of a chainsaw sounds through the forest as a small group of farmers gathers around a tree filled with red seed pods. With one slow stroke, a severed knobby branch hits the ground.
“Now it will help the tree grow new fruit,” farmer Tari Santoso says with a smile.
Thousands of cocoa farmers across Indonesia like Santoso are working with businesses and other organizations to protect their crops from the bitter impacts of climate change and underinvestment that have pushed cocoa prices to record levels.
Cocoa trees are high maintenance: Grown only near the equator, they require a precise combination of steady temperatures, humidity
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