Media: cocoa bean producers in Ivory Coast demand higher purchase prices

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food of Ivory Coast set purchase prices for cocoa beans at 1.5 thousand West African francs ($2.5) per kg. Producer organizations believe that these prices do not give farmers the opportunity to create a sufficient margin of safety in case of crop loss. According to the head of l'anaproci, Coffey Kang, prices should be raised to 2.5 thousand West African francs ($4) per kg.

They were supported by political parties. For example, the representative of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire, Simon Dojo, stated that "over 80% of our cocoa bean producers live below the poverty line, while the country supplies 40% of the world's cocoa beans."

The example of Ivory Coast is followed by Ghana, the second largest exporter of cocoa beans in the world (2.2 million tons per year and 822 thousand tons, respectively). Recently, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo ordered an increase in purchase prices by 58.2% from 20928 sedi ($1560) per ton to 33120 ($2460) per ton by the end of the 2023-2024 season. Ghana accounts for 15% of the world's cocoa bean production.

Recently, cocoa bean futures on the world market reached record heights amid the spread of plant diseases and bad weather, the Just Food portal reports. It is expected that in the 2023-2024 season, supplies to the global market will decrease by about 8%. According to the GlobalData portal, over the past 12 months, cocoa bean prices have increased by 166% and 189%, respectively, in the futures markets in New York and London. It is planned that in the 2023-2024 season, the global harvest will amount to 4.5 million tons, which will be a drop of 340 thousand tons compared to the previous season.