One in five Ivorians depend on the cocoa industry for their livelihood, according to the World Bank’s new Director of Operations in Cote d’Ivoire, Coralie Gevers who was speaking in Abidjan on Tuesday.
“We discussed the specific perspectives of Cote d’Ivoire in terms of investment, continuity of the World Bank Group’s programme in the country… you know that one in five Ivorians depend on the cocoa sector for their livelihood” Ms. Gevers told reporters after emerging from talks with President Alassane Ouattara.
“A large majority of cocoa farmers are poor despite decades working in the sector” she said.
According to her, improving the incomes of cocoa producers requires better market agreements between them and buyers.
“We know that there are ongoing negotiations with Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. There is also room for improvement in the quality of cocoa and cocoa trees,” she added.
With an estimated production of about two million tonnes, Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s largest cocoa producer.
At the beginning of July, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together account for 65 percent of world cocoa production, decided for the 2020-2021 season on a floor price of $2600 per tonne (CFA1.5 million) before selling their produce to traders.
With the latter, they agreed to institute an amount of $400/tonne (CFA232,525) to guarantee this floor price in the event of a drop in prices.
On July 16, the two countries finally decided to lift the suspension on the cocoa sales for the 2020-2021 harvesting season.
LB/ls/lb/as/APA