World Largest Cocoa Producers: Ivory Coast and Ghana, Initiate Joint Body to Coordinate Cocoa Policies

By Richard Adorsu-

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Accra- World’s two largest cocoa producers, Ivory Coast and Ghana have initiated a joint body to improve coordination in research, price setting and the fight against child labor, the Ivorian government said in a statement. Both countries, produce around 60% of the world’s cocoa, have coordinated on some of those issues before, but the new organization marks a formal step towards closer ties.

Ivory Coast-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (ICCIG) will promote their cocoa industries internationally and defend their collective position in the global market, the Ivorian government said in a statement.

The organization will allow the two countries to formalize an agreement started three years ago whereby they both announce farm gate prices at the start of the growing season of Oct. 1, a measure aimed at reducing smuggling across their shared border.

Last year they raised the guaranteed price they pay cocoa farmers to around $1.50 per kilogramme for the 2019/20 main crop harvest. They also introduced a minimum price floor to address a perceived imbalance between farmers’ incomes and money made by big commodities traders.

Cocoa farmers in West Africa face poor productivity due to constraints at the crop, field, farm and sector level. To ensure farmers’ livelihoods, yields need to increase sustainably. A research will investigate the effect of field level practices on cocoa productivity. The suitability of different practices for different smallholder farm systems will be explored. Effective delivery of the services supporting these practices will be co-developed with public and private partners. This project include“Cocoa crop improvement, farms and markets, in science-based approach to sustainably improving farmer food security in Ghana and Ivory Coast” aims for science-based, sustainable intensification of cocoa production assuring high and stable production now and under future climate change and policy scenarios.

The objectives are to develop methods to examine cocoa response to nutrients in monocultures and agroforestry systems, underpinning fertilizer recommendations. Develop crop growth models as explorative tools for improving and innovating cocoa production now and in the future. Develop models that explore feasible, sustainable and robust technologies at farm level. Co-develop models for effective public and private service delivery at scale fitting the complexity of the cacao sector in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

For New Africa Daily News Richard Adorsu Reports,  Africa Correspondent