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The price per kilogram that Côte d’Ivoire will pay its cocoa farmers for the mid-crop season from April to September, up from $3.01 for the main season that just ended, according to the agriculture minister.
The price hike comes amid mounting complaints among farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana — which together supply 60% of the world’s cocoa, mostly via forward contracts — that prices remain too far below the going rate for international buyers, which currently stands at $8.08 per kilogram. Drought and disease have hit cocoa production in recent years, rattling international markets.
“For farmers the increased price is good news but remains a disappointingly small share of the overall market cocoa price,” Caroline Cornier a researcher at Manchester University told Semafor, highlighting increased cocoa smuggling to neighboring countries.
