Easter is right around the corner. With food prices on the rise, more consumers may be keeping an eye on the price of chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits. Retail store shelves may be overflowing with splashes of bright color, but major cocoa companies are monitoring exports of chocolate's key ingredient from the Ivory Coast.

In the first quarter of 2011, risk sentiment and speculation drove up crude oil prices. While the commodity of black gold will continue to be closely tracked, cocoa futures and the Ivory Coast conflict have not garnered the same level of attention.

The West African nation of the Ivory Coast produces approximately one-third of the world's cocoa supply. Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil and Ecuador also supply a bulk of the world's cocoa, but the production and quality of the commodity vary from country to country. The dispute of the presidential election in the Ivory Coast has been resolved, but political unrest is expected to continue throughout the nation. Earlier this week, the capture of the ousted president, Laurent Gbagbo, led to cautious optimism about the nation's cocoa industry.

Farmers in the Ivory Coast left cocoa plantations, after the widespread violence that followed the disputed election late in 2010. Many of the farms were left unattended, and production at many plantations are forecast to see significant interruptions. While the timeline has yet to be determined, exports of cocoa are expected to begin moving out from the country. After prices of the commodity hit 32-year highs last month, expectations of supply flooding out from the nation have pulled prices lower.

The administration of Alassane Ouattara faces a slew of challenges in rebuilding and reuniting a divided country. While the West African nation struggles to gain control over militias, it will also have to rebuild its institutions and the economy.

Cocoa growers in the Ivory Coast are in the process of gathering the mid-crop of the current harvest. While a bottleneck in exports may initially impede the flow of cocoa out from the country, a return to a balance in global supplies will be welcomed.