CICGI Ivory Coast-Ghana cocoa body welcomes enhanced crop payments for farmers

The Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) has formally praised what is a record mid-crop farmgate price in both Ivory Coast and Ghana, in response to spiralling values on Futures trading markets in New York and London, writes Neill Barston.

As previously reported, commodities trading platforms in the US had reached a peak this month of $10,000 a tonne, triple what they had been just a year ago, which sparked international concern.

But the move to offer farmers greater recompense has been broadly welcomed by the sector, though a fundamental reworking of the present advanced selling of cocoa crops is being sought by industry observers.

As CIGCI noted, this is the first time that the price of the mid-crop exceeds that of the main crop, proving that joint efforts to have greater control of the market, are paying off.

In its view, the forward sales systems in Ivory Coast and Ghana have enabled both countries to protect farmers against price drops and stabilise their economies – though many sector observers are calling for a fundamental review of this in light of the rapid rise of prices, which have not filtered down to farmers, until this latest settlement.

“In today’s context of historically high market prices, we consider it important to ensure that farmers can indeed benefit, despite a significant decline in production levels, environmental challenges and smuggling,” said Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative Executive Secretary, Alex Assanvo, adding, “We all know how the market works.

“Price may go down after the current exceptional price spike. We know how damaging this will be for producers. It’s the moment to collectively architect a new future for cocoa”.

The CIGCI supports and applauds the efforts of both countries to deliver higher prices to the farmers. The coordination offered by the Initiative during this period is testament to the opportunity created by the historic collaboration between the two countries.

Ivory Coast and Ghana have demonstrated their alignment and determined cooperation efforts towards ensuring better prices to farmers on both sides of the border. There will be no thriving cocoa sector working for farmers without cooperation among cocoa supply chain stakeholders.

Moreover, CIGCI added that the world’s leading producers of cocoa continue to build efforts to protect their farmers in the long term, and in a highly volatile market, it added that it is “Call on all stakeholders to take true action for the transformation of a sector that for so many years has handed farmers and producing countries the shorter end of the stick.”

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