Kenya just made cocoa an official cash crop — and cut seedling prices for farmers

On Mazingira Day, President William Ruto formally classified cocoa as a scheduled cash crop in Kenya — the first time the chocolate bean gets official status there — and promised to subsidize seedlings so smallholders can afford to plant it. The government has mapped 5 million hectares as suitable for cocoa. Seedlings that cost farmers KSh200 (about $1.60) each are set to get cheaper, opening a brand-new income stream for rural families. Chocolate, meet Kenya.