Bags of cocoa beans from the main harvest are stacked nearly to the ceiling inside Sekou Dagnogo’s warehouse in the western Ivorian town of Duekoue, as his cooperative struggles to sell to exporters following a drop in global cocoa prices.
According to cooperatives, exporters have refused to pay the government-set farmgate price of 2,800 CFA francs ($5.09) per kilogram, which was fixed at the start of the 2025/26 crop season.
Exporters argue that the decline in global cocoa prices, which fell to their lowest levels in more than two years last week due to weaker demand, has made cocoa from the world’s largest producer too costly.
Dagnogo said his cooperative depends on export sales to pay farmers, but with sales stalled, unsold stocks are building up and debts are increasing.
“Things haven’t been going well for quite some time now, so everything is at a standstill for the moment and we currently owe farmers a lot of money,” he told Reuters during a recent visit to Duekoue.
He said he hopes the Coffee and Cocoa Council will intervene by purchasing the unsold cocoa.
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In January, the regulator began a programme to buy 100,000 metric tons of cocoa beans that had been sitting unsold for weeks.
Earlier this month, it accelerated the purchases amid concerns that the quality of beans stored in poor conditions was deteriorating.
“They have assured us that they will buy back the product,” Dagnogo said.
Farmer Frederic Kouassi Kouassi said some buyers have been offering between 1,500 CFA francs and 1,800 CFA francs per kilogram, prices that are below the official minimum and prohibited by the regulator.
“They offer us a choice that doesn’t suit us, and due to a lack of resources, we are forced to accept these prices,” Kouassi Kouassi said as he cut yellow cocoa pods with a machete on his farm in the small western village of Remikro.
He has been storing bags of cocoa beans inside his home but is concerned about accumulating too much stock before the April-to-September mid-crop begins.
“If someone comes and offers you at least 500 CFA francs to sell what’s there, since the trees are still alive, you accept and never get discouraged,” Kouassi Kouassi said.
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Image Credit: Reuters
