Indonesia's cocoa farmers work with businesses to fight the bitter impact of climate change

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 and sunlight. It takes five years for a tree to start producing the seeds that are processed into cocoa used to make chocolate and other delectable foods.

Climate change raises the risks for farmers: Hotter weather hurts yields and longer rainy seasons trigger the spread of fungus and deadly pests. Increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have made it harder for farmers to deal with those challenges.

So farmers are switching to other crops, further reducing cocoa supplies and pushing prices higher: In 2024, prices nearly tripled, reaching about US$12,000 per ton, driving up chocolate costs and leading some chocolate makers to try growing cocoa in laboratories.

Indonesia is the third-largest producer of cocoa in the world, behind Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, farmers are joining with businesses and nongovernmental organizations to develop better growing practices and improve their livelihoods.

Sitting in the shade of his forest farm in south Sumatra, 3 miles (5 kilometers) from a national park where Sumatran tigers and rhinos roam, farmer Santoso is working with Indonesian chocolate maker Krakakoa.

After he began working with the company in 2016, Santoso starting using practices that helped his cocoa trees flourish, regularly pruning and grafting new branches onto older trees to promote growth and prevent the spread of disease. He is using organic fertilizer and has adopted agroforestry techniques, integrating other crops and trees such as bananas, dragon fruit, coffee and pepper, into his farm to foster a healthier ecosystem and invest in other income sources.

“It wasn't very successful before we met Krakakoa,” Santoso said. “But then, we received training ... things are much better.”

Krakakoa has trained more than 1,000 cocoa farmers in Indonesia according to its founder and CEO, Sabrina Mustopo. The company also provides financial support.

Santoso and other farmers in Sumatra said the partnership helped them to form a cooperative provides low-interest loans to farmers, with interest paid back into the cooperative rather than to banks outside of the community.

Cocoa farmers who need bigger loans from government-owned banks also benefit from partnering with businesses, as the guaranteed buyer agreements can provide collateral needed to get loans approved, said Armin Hari, a communications manager at the Cocoa Sustainability Partnership, a forum for public-private collaboration for cocoa development in Indonesia.

Dozens of other businesses, the government and nongovernmental organizations and cooperatives are also working with cocoa farmers to better cope with climate change, benefiting thousands, Hari said. He pointed to a collaboration between Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency and the local division of international chocolate maker Mars, which have released a new variant of cocoa that produces more pods per tree.

Challenges still remain, said Rajendra Aryal, the FAO's country director for Indonesia. Fewer people see cocoa farming as a lucrative business and instead are planting other crops such as palm oil. And many small-scale farmers still cannot get loans, he said.

But Aryal said he hopes that continued collaboration between farmers and others will help.

“If we can look at the major issues these (farmers) are facing ... I think this sector could be, again, very attractive to the farmers,” he said. “Despite the challenges in Indonesia, I see that there are opportunities."

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Members of a cocoa farmers' cooperative book their savings during a gathering in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Administrators register member's savings during the gathering of a cocoa farmers' cooperative in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cocoa farmer Sarwono, right, speaks during a cocoa farmer's cooperative meeting at his house in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Tari Santoso, in white, rests with other farmers at a cocoa plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Tari Santoso holds cocoa pods at his plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A farmer works at a a palm oil plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A farmer trims a cocoa tree at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cocoa farmer Sarwono uses banana leaves to cover cocoa beans in a fermentation box in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cocoa farmer Sarwono arranges newly grafted plants at a nursery outside his house in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cocoa farmer Sarwono grafts a plant at a small nursery outside his house in Tanjung Rejo, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Cocoa farmer Sarwono tends to a small nursery outside his house in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Tari Santoso, a cocoa farmer, inspects his crop in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A farmer uses a chainsaw to trim a cocoa tree at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A farmer picks cocoa pods at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Indonesia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

A farmer holds an opened cocoa pod at a plantation in Tanjung Rejo, Lampung province, Indonesia, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

KOCANI, North Macedonia (AP) — A massive fire tore through a nightclub in North Macedonia ’s eastern town of Kocani early Sunday, killing 59 people and injuring 155, authorities said.

The blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m. local time during a concert by a local pop group at Club Pulse, Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski told reporters. Officials said 39 of the dead had so far been identified, adding that 18 of those injured were in critical condition.

Toshkovski said following an initial assessment that pyrotechnics likely caused the roof to catch fire. Videos showed sparkling pyrotechnics on the stage hitting the ceiling followed by scenes of chaos inside the club, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged people to escape as quickly as possible.

Throughout Sunday, relatives gathered in front of hospitals and city offices in Kocani, some 115 kilometers (72 miles) east of the capital, Skopje, begging authorities for more information. Local resident Dragi Stojanov was informed that his 21-year-old son Tomce had died in the fire.

“He was my only child. I don’t need my life anymore... 150 families have been devastated," he said. “Children burnt beyond recognition. There are corpses, just corpses inside (the club).” Condolences poured in from leaders around Europe as well as from the office of Pope Francis who has been in hospital for the last month, where he is fighting double pneumonia. Health Minister Arben Taravari said he had received offers of assistance from neighboring countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also sent messages of support. “I wish those who were injured a speedy recovery. Ukraine mourns alongside our (North) Macedonian friends on this sad day,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. In Skopje, health officials said the injured have been taken to hospitals around the country, many being treated for severe burns and smoke inhalation. The effort was being assisted by multiple volunteer organizations.

“All our capabilities have been put to use, in a maximum effort to save as many lives as possible of the young people involved in this tragedy,” Taravari told reporters, at times looking visibly shaken.

The fire is the worst tragedy in recent memory to befall the landlocked nation, whose population is less than 2 million, and the latest in a slew of deadly nightclub fires around the world.

President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova visited burn victims at a hospital in Skopje and spoke to parents waiting outside the building.

“It's terrible ... hard to believe how this happened,” she said, her voice halting with emotion. “We must give these young people courage to continue.”

The club was in an old building that was previously a carpet warehouse and has been running for several years, according to local media MKD.

The fire caused the roof of the single-story building to partially collapse, revealing the charred remains of wooden beams and debris. Police cordoned off the site and sent in evidence gathering teams in an operation also involving state prosecutors.

State prosecutor Ljubco Kocevski said several people were being questioned by police but gave no further details and stressed that the cause of the blaze was still being investigated.

Interior ministry officials said authorities would investigate the venue’s licensing and safety provisions, adding that the government had a “moral responsibility” to help prosecute anyone responsible. Police have arrested one man already, but he didn't provide details on the person's involvement.

Pyrotechnics have often been the cause of deadly fires in nightclubs, including the one at the Colectiv club in Bucharest, Romania, in 2015 in which 64 people died.

AP writers from across Europe contributed.

A police officer inspects a nightclub in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025, following a massive fire in the nightclub early Sunday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Police officers hold plastic bags on the site of a nightclub in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025, following a massive fire in the nightclub early Sunday. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Police officers investigate a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Police officers block a road near a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Police officers block a road near a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

CORRECTS CITY TO SKOPJE - People wait in front of the hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025, after a massive fire in a nightclub in the town of Kocani. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Prosecutors arrive at the scene of a massive fire in a nightclub in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A person makes a telephone call in front of the hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025, after a massive fire in a nightclub in the town of Kocani. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A firefighter inspects a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

CORRECTS CITY TO SKOPJE - People wait in front of the hospital in Skopje, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025, after a massive fire in a nightclub in the town of Kocani. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Macedonian Interior Minister Pance Toskovski speaks to media after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Police officers investigate a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Police officers investigate a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A firefighter inspects a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Police officers investigate a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A firefighter inspects a nightclub after a massive fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Rescue workers stand in front of a club after massive fire broke out early Sunday in Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Kocani TV via AP)

Rescue workers stand in front of a club after massive fire broke out early Sunday in Kocani, North Macedonia, March 16, 2025. (Kocani TV via AP)