Cocoa stakeholders agree to a floor price of $ 2,600

Stakeholders in the cocoa sector have agreed to the proposed US $ 2,600 floor price set by Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to increase farmers' incomes.

This means that if prices are below the floor price, the two countries will not supply beans to the market. The agreement follows a two-day meeting in Accra to tackle the huge differences between farmers' incomes and the incomes of commodity companies, especially chocolate manufacturers.

The governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire have expressed their willingness to unite for the establishment of a common floor price and a fair subsistence income for cocoa farmers to address the disparity in high incomes in the cocoa value chain.

The two countries account for 65% of world cocoa production, so it was prudent for them to cooperate to meet the common challenges in cocoa production and marketing.

Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, President of the Ghana Cocoa Board, said traders, manufacturers and processors had accepted the proposed floor price of $ 2,600 per tonne.

However, they requested a technical meeting on July 3 to refine the details of its implementation. "This is a landmark meeting where suppliers and buyers have agreed on a price below which producers will not sell," Aidoo said at a news conference. of a press conference.

Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire had already suspended their cocoa bean futures for the 2020/21 season until an agreement was reached on the price floor.

Mr. Kone Brahima Yves, Director General of the Côte d'Ivoire Coffee and Cocoa Council, said there was consensus on the need to improve farmers' incomes. "We have reached a consensus and everyone agrees that producers are not well paid and that something must be done to improve the conditions of producers," he said. .

It was also agreed that issues of sustainability, traceability, environmental and child labor issues, although important, should be dissociated from the floor price and discussed at another forum.

As a prelude to any further commitment, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana suspended sales of the 2020/21 crop until further notice in anticipation of the application of the floor price.

The two-day meeting in Accra was organized by order of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and President Albadane Outtara of Cote d'Ivoire. It has attracted key stakeholders, including policy makers, government officials, smallholders, traders, cocoa processors, manufacturers and retailers.

Source: GNA