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Ivory Coast, the world's largest producer of cocoa, earns only a fraction of the potential value of the crop, must transform it at the national level and develop its distribution to make full use of it, said Thursday. a report from the World Bank.
Cocoa accounts for 40% of West African exports, but the country only makes about 8% of the total profits of the cocoa-chocolate sector, AFP quoted bank economist Jacques Morisset as saying. .
"Despite its importance to the Ivorian economy and society, the cocoa sector does not play its role as a driver of economic development," said its 61-page report titled "Cacaoland: How to Transform the Côte d'Ivoire". Ivory".
"Some even go so far as to quote the curse of" brown gold, "added the World Bank, as 55% of cocoa farmers live with about 757 CFA francs (1.3 / 1.15 euro) per day, which is below the poverty line.
"The majority of the profits of the sector (nearly 80%) is concentrated in the second phase of processing (chocolate paste) and in the distribution phase of finished products to consumers, two phases in which Côte d'Ivoire does not play a major role yet, "said the government. The report.
Meanwhile, the expansion of cultivated land in recent decades has destroyed the forest cover of Ivory Coast, which today accounts for less than three million hectares (7.4 million acres), up from 12 million hectares in 1960.
Morisset called for "a better distribution of value-added gains between Ivorians working in the sector", through tax reforms and other levies imposed on cocoa farmers.
In industrialized countries, consumers examine the origins of the product through studies of the environmental and social costs of cocoa plantations, from forests to child labor.
"It is increasingly difficult to sell non-certified cocoa, producing countries (including Cote d 'Ivoire) and multinationals along the value chain must change their behavior by adopting codes of conduct and establishing partnership frameworks, "says the report.
"Countries like Germany have already banned the sale of non-certified chocolate, an initiative that should gain ground in the coming years."
Germany is the world's largest exporter of chocolate-based products.
& # 39; Survival Condition & # 39;
Climate change is also wreaking havoc in Ivory Coast, where land is thirsty and less fertile, while one-third of existing cocoa trees are aging and are vulnerable to disease.
The report recommends replacing them, going from extensive growth to intensive growth.
"This is not an option, it's a condition of survival," Morisset said, calling for "a green revolution that will result in a drastic increase in the yield of cocoa farmers, as compared to the 500 kilos / hectare of the last 20 years. "
Overall, Côte d'Ivoire produces two million tonnes of cocoa a year, grown by about one million producers who provide a low income to five million people, or about one-fifth of the population.
Cocoa beans are the main source of foreign exchange earnings, but less than a quarter of the crop is processed in the country.
In 2018, Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana, which together account for 65% of world production, have created a joint sales mechanism.
They set a minimum price of $ 2,600 per ton for the benefit of farmers who receive only a total of $ 6 billion from a global market worth about $ 100 billion. of dollars.
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