Côte d’Ivoire: Government Plans to Buy Up Piling Cocoa Stocks

In Côte d’Ivoire, the government has announced plans to purchase cocoa stocks that have been piling up in cooperatives and production areas for several weeks. Farmers have reported not being paid, mainly due to bottlenecks in the system.

“A plan to remove surplus cocoa will begin in the coming days,” said Kobénan Kouassi Adjoumani, Minister of Agriculture of Côte d’Ivoire. This concerns 123,000 tonnes of cocoa currently immobilized in production areas. The cost of the operation is over 280 billion CFA francs (approximately €427 million).

This measure aims to cover contracts that national operators, currently short on liquidity, have failed to honor. However, these operators will later have to repay this advance to the Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC).

Purchased at the Official Price Set for the Campaign

The cocoa will be bought at 2,800 FCFA per kilogram, the official price set for the main campaign, the minister said. He hopes that these measures will produce “concrete effects in the coming days.” The main goal is to unclog the situation on the ground and ensure that cocoa farmers are paid. Currently, around 10,000 tonnes of cocoa are purchased daily, according to the CCC.

During the press conference, the Minister of Agriculture also explained some of the reasons behind this slowdown in cocoa marketing: a global context, with a nearly 30% drop in cocoa prices on international markets, and logistical constraints at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro.