The Cote d’Ivoire has increased its farmgate price for cocoa beans to 750 CFA francs ($1.34) per kilogram for the main harvest, which began the beginning of October.
Lambert Kouassi Konan, president of cocoa regulator Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao (CCC), set the price in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, at the beginning of the month.
Minimum pay for the last main crop was was 700 francs ($1.22) per kilogram, marking a price increase of 7.1% for the country’s farmers. Ghana kept its price unchanged and will pay farmers 475 cedis ($95.60) per 64 kilogram bag.
It is the first rise in two years and Côte d'Ivoire's pay increase also narrows a price difference with neighboring Ghana after the two countries committed to work together to market beans in order derive better benefits for producers.
CCC announcements for new season:
Crop size seen at slightly under 2 million tons
Country to reinstate cocoa registration tax for exporters at 1.5% of free-on-board value
Plant entry price set at 845 francs per kilogram
But the move has angered Ghana’s cocoa farmers, who have threatened to halt production, if its government does not increase cocoa producer prices for the 2018/2019 cocoa season.
President of the Cocoa Farmers Association Nana Opambour Bonsu told local media that due to this development, members would be forced out of business, leaving the country without an industry.
“We are the farmers on the ground and we know what is happening and we know the challenges the farmers are going through,” he said.
He added:” the GHC475 is nothing, it's peanuts. What we are saying is if government can’t buy our cocoa at 1,000 cedis, then we are sorry, we will not produce the cocoa”.
Bloomberg reports that last year, Côte d'Ivoire slashed its producer pay by 36% after forecasts of bumper crops in West Africa prompted a collapse of almost a third in prices during the 2016-17 harvest.
Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana account for approximately 60% the world’s cocoa production.
“Our objective is to coordinate sales by the end of January. We are working toward that date.” CCC managing director Yves Brahima Kone told Bloomberg.