Cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire are seeing a 9% increase in the farmgate price from 825 CFA ($1.24) to 900 CFA francs ($1.33) per kilo. Vice-President of Côte d’Ivoire, Tiemoko Meyliet Kone, made the announcement on Friday, saying the new price will take effect for the 2022/2023 main harvest season, which begins on 1 October.
The price increase comes at a time when the dollar is strong and likely to remain strong for the foreseeable future. Cocoa regulators in Côte d’Ivoire are probably confident about their decision to increase the fixed Cocoa farmgate price.
It should also be noted that the global Cocoa market experienced a supply deficit at the end of the 2021/2022 season, largely due to a particularly severe harmattan as well as unfavourable rainfall conditions.
On 1 October last year, farmers expressed disappointment at the farmgate price for Cocoa, which was set at 825 CFA (then $1.45) per kilo. This is a discount of 18.5% from the 2020/21 price of 1,000 CFA (then $1.77) per kilo set during the presidential election. The Ivorian farmers were looking forward to the good news at the time after a rich harvest but were disappointed by the regulators.
