Officials from Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council will travel to the centre-eastern town of M’Batto to address unrest among cocoa growers, a source close to the council told Reuters on Monday. The trip aims to calm tensions after protests last week in which farmers blocked roads to demand payment for cocoa they say is deteriorating in storage despite assurances the beans would be purchased.
Police used tear gas against dozens of farmers during the demonstrations in M’Batto, the source said. The council and the agriculture ministry have not issued immediate comments on the situation.
Unsold cocoa inventories accumulated in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer, during November and December after global prices fell sharply beneath the local price level. Local prices are fixed by the Coffee and Cocoa Council twice a year, and the divergence between international and domestic pricing is cited as a key factor in the backlog.
The government had initiated a programme to collect the unsold beans, but many farmers and cooperatives report they still await payment for main-crop cocoa harvested between October and March. According to farmers and cooperative representatives who spoke to Reuters on Monday, the outstanding payments for beans sold during the main crop have been the primary driver of recent protests.
Those payment delays have raised concerns among growers and cooperative leaders that discouragement could adversely affect planting and production decisions, potentially weighing on the next harvest. Some producers have been compelled to accept much lower prices as unsold stocks have deteriorated, reducing the proceeds available to them.
Farmers involved in the protests described financial strain and health problems among their communities arising from the combination of unpaid sales and degrading inventories. The coming response from CCC managers in M’Batto will be watched as stakeholders seek a resolution to the bottleneck in payments and the broader impact on cocoa supply ahead of the next season.
Context and next steps
The council visit is positioned as a direct response to the demonstrations and the reported condition of unsold cocoa stocks. How quickly the council and relevant government agencies can address payment delays and the collection programme will influence whether tensions subside or persist into the next crop cycle.