In Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, the industry is facing limbo as prices on the global market plummet, leaving workers struggling to make a living.

Yamoussoukro

Ivory Coast's cocoa industry is experiencing significant challenges due to a sharp decline in global cocoa prices since October of the previous year. The drop has slowed exports and caused stockpiles to accumulate, leaving many producers unable to cover basic expenses or pay off debts, despite having valuable crops.

Farmers have reported selling cocoa at prices below the government-set minimum due to urgent financial needs. The Coffee and Cocoa Council has attempted to reassure producers by forecasting that all domestic production will be purchased. Cocoa remains a vital source of income, with one in five Ivorians relying on the industry for their livelihood.

Ivory Coast: Cocoa industry in limbo as prices fall

It's the world's top cocoa producer, but Ivory Coast is facing an unprecedented deadlock. Since October last year, with prices plummeting on the global market, exports have been slow and stocks are building up. The industry has been left in limbo, as this director of a co-operative explains. Today, producers are dying, producers are dying of poverty, even though they have the products. They cannot afford to pay for medical care or to live. The day before yesterday, a farmer came to see me. He had lost his wife. He had sent us his produce, which we estimated to be worth at least half a million, but he didn't have five francs to pay for his wife's funeral. Since the middle of last year, cocoa prices have dropped to about $5,000 a tonne, or $5 per kilo. Some growers have sold at even cheaper prices out of necessity. I was given what is called an order to pay, but how can I pay? They're forced to take a bag of cocoa and come and sell at a price that is unaffordable. The government set the price of cocoa at 2,800 francs per kilo at the farm gate, and today everything is enriched, which makes 115 kilos. And they took my cocoa at 2,000 francs because they're in need. But how can we save human lives? That's how it is here in Duku. The coffee and cocoa council meanwhile is trying to reassure producers. We've made forecasts. All of the Ivory Coast production from our plantations will be purchased. I wanted to reassure our producers. One in five people in Ivory Coast indirectly relies on cocoa to make a living.

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