Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) will send officials to the centre-eastern part of the country to calm tensions among farmers who protested last week over unsold cocoa stocks they say are rotting, despite a council pledge to buy the beans, a source close to the council told Reuters.
Farmers have not been paid for beans sold during the main crop, fuelling protests and discouragement that could weigh on the next harvest, farmers and cooperatives told Reuters on Tuesday.
CCC managers will travel to the centre-eastern town of M’Batto, where police tear-gassed dozens of farmers last week as they blocked roads while demanding payment for their cocoa.
The CCC and the agriculture ministry were not immediately available for comment.
Unsold cocoa stocks built up in Ivory Coast, the world’s top producer, from November to December after global prices fell sharply below local prices, which are set twice a year by the CCC.
The government launched a programme to collect the unsold beans, but many farmers and cooperatives say they still have not been paid for main-crop cocoa harvested between October and March.
UNPAID COCOA THREATENS NEXT HARVEST
In the centre-western region of Daloa, the head of a cooperative representing more than 300 farmers said it also still holds about 150 metric tons of unsold beans from the main crop. The payment delays have left farmers demoralised and distrustful of the cooperative, he said. Some have fallen ill and lack the money for medical treatment.
“This situation will affect the next (main crop) harvest because growers were counting on a lot of money to maintain their plantations,” said Albert Konan, a farmer and manager of the cooperative.
A European-based cocoa trader said the situation is not impacting supplies or prices for now as it is localised, but there are worries it could have an impact next season if it is not resolved and farmers opt to hold on to their cocoa.
In the western regions of Soubre and Duekoue, several farmers said they had resigned themselves to selling main-crop cocoa at the lower mid-crop price of 1,300 CFA francs ($2.34) per kilogram.
“We can’t get (the main crop price of) 2,800 francs per kilogram. Instead, the beans from the main crop are going bad, so I sold them for 1,300 francs per kilogram,” said Salif Kone, who farms near Duekoue.
The Ivorian Platform for Sustainable Cocoa, which advocates for farmers and proposes reforms to improve cocoa governance, said it was aware that farmers still hold unsold main-crop stocks but that it could not provide an estimate of the volumes involved.
“The government has made efforts to reduce (unsold) inventories. Despite these efforts, some cocoa has been purchased but the farmers have not received payment. We understand their distress,” said Pauline Zei, manager of the platform.
