Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council will send officials to cocoa-producing regions to address farmer protests. The protests stem from unpaid and unsold cocoa beans, particularly in the country's centre-eastern cocoa belt. The dispute risks undermining confidence as the next harvest season approaches.
This intervention follows protests last week in M’Batto, where police reportedly used tear gas on farmers. These farmers had blocked roads, demanding payment for cocoa beans. Farmers say these beans remain either unsold or unpaid for, despite earlier government intervention.
Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer. Developments within its domestic market significantly affect global cocoa supply and prices. Reuters reports that farmers and cooperatives have not received payment for beans sold during the main crop season, which runs from October to March. This delay fuels frustration and raises concerns that farm maintenance could suffer, affecting the next harvest.
The current dispute began with a buildup of unsold cocoa stocks between November and December. This occurred after global prices sharply dropped below the local prices set by the Coffee and Cocoa Council. The Ivorian government then implemented a programme to collect these unsold beans. However, many farmers and cooperatives state they still have not received payments for these beans.
These payment delays are putting farmers under increasing financial pressure. In the centre-western region of Daloa, a cooperative head representing over 300 farmers reported holding about 150 metric tonnes of unsold beans from the main crop. Albert Konan, a farmer and cooperative manager, told Reuters, “This situation will affect the next harvest because growers were counting on a lot of money to maintain their plantations.” He warned that the delays have demoralised farmers and created distrust with cooperatives.
This payment crisis at the farm level could weaken production incentives in Ivory Coast. The cocoa market is currently very sensitive to supply disruptions from West Africa. Farmers rely on timely payments to pay labourers, purchase inputs, and maintain their farms for the next crop cycle. Payment delays can quickly lead to household financial distress, lower productivity, and reduced future output.
Some farmers have already accepted significant price reductions to minimise further losses. In the western regions of Soubre and Duekoue, multiple growers told Reuters they sold their main-crop cocoa at the lower mid-crop price of 1,300 CFA francs per kilogram. This was necessary after they failed to secure the main-crop price of 2,800 CFA francs per kilogram. One farmer near Duekoue cited deteriorating beans, forcing him to accept the lower price.
A European-based cocoa trader told Reuters that the situation has not yet impacted global supply or prices because it remains localised. However, the trader cautioned that it could become a risk for the next season. This could happen if farmers hold back cocoa or reduce investment in farm maintenance. Pauline Zei, manager of the Ivorian Platform for Sustainable Cocoa, confirmed that some farmers still hold unsold main-crop stocks. She noted that some cocoa was purchased without farmers receiving payment despite government efforts to reduce inventories.
For Ivory Coast, these protests highlight the tension between set farmgate prices and volatile global commodity markets. While fixed prices aim to protect farmers, problems arise when international prices fall significantly below domestic levels. In such cases, selling stocks becomes difficult unless the state or regulator covers the difference.
This episode offers important lessons for other West African cocoa economies, including Ghana. Producer price setting, farmer welfare, smuggling risks, and supply-chain confidence remain key policy considerations. If growers do not receive timely payments, the credibility of the cocoa pricing system declines. Farmers may then alter their behaviour, affecting both output and formal market channels.
Ivory Coast’s immediate goal is to restore trust. Sending officials to affected areas may calm immediate tensions. However, the true test will be whether outstanding payments are quickly settled. This is crucial to prevent the dispute from impacting the next main crop. Investors and buyers are already monitoring West African weather patterns, disease pressure, and production uncertainty. Unpaid cocoa farmers present another supply-side risk that cannot be overlooked.