Combined, the two West African countries account for approximately 60% of the world’s cocoa, and have already coordinated on a joint ‘Living Income Differential’ (LID) price initiative to add $400 a per tonne to help farmers fight poverty if the market price falls below $2,600 a tonne.
The LID is due to come into effect in October but the new organization, Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (ICCIG), marks a formal step towards closer ties and is aimed at promoting its cocoa industries internationally while strengthening its collective position in the global market, the Ivorian government said in a statement.
The organization will allow the two countries to formalise an agreement started three years ago when they both announced farmgate prices at the start of the growing season (October 1), primarily to reduce cocoa smuggling across their shared border, Reuters reported.
