Côte d'Ivoire offers farmers a new deal to clear cocoa backlog

Côte d'Ivoire's Coffee and Cocoa Council has officially launched its programme to purchase cocoa beans that have been held for weeks by producers in the West African country, its director general said on Thursday.

Last week, the government announced that the CCC would buy 100,000 metric tonnes of surplus cocoa.

Exporters have refused to buy beans at the guaranteed price of 2,800 CFA francs/kg after a fall in global cocoa prices, five exporters and nine cooperatives have told Reuters.

They said exporters find Côte d'Ivoire cocoa beans too expensive and are demanding a reduction in the price differential and the elimination of a living income differential.

Buyback to cost more than $516 million

President Alassane Ouattara said in October that Côte d'Ivoire was raising the fixed farmgate price for the 2025/26 main crop to a record 2,800 CFA francs per kg.

At a press conference on Thursday, CCC Director General Yves Brahima Kone said that up to 100,000 tonnes of cocoa will be purchased by the end of March to streamline the domestic marketing system.

"We have started purchasing cocoa beans that farmers have stockpiled and have been unable to sell for several weeks," he said.

The buyback programme will cost more than 280 billion CFA francs ($516 million).

The first phase of the programme will involve purchasing and storing cocoa beans. A second phase will focus on exporting the stockpile.

Quick sale

Kone said the CCC is ready to sell it quickly if buyers are interested.

The CCC received some 200 tonnes of newly purchased beans at its Transcao trading plant on Thursday. It plans to purchase an average of 10,000 tonnes per week.