The world’s two biggest cocoa producers are trying — again — to fix a sector that has long enriched chocolate companies whilst leaving farmers behind.
Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, opened the 7th Steering Committee Meeting of the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative in Abidjan this week, issuing a pointed call for the two nations to move beyond dialogue and deliver measurable change for the millions of smallholder farmers who underpin global chocolate supply.
The meeting drew senior government officials, industry stakeholders and cocoa board representatives from both countries — including Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) chief executive Dr Randy Abbey — as the sector grapples with a convergence of crises: price volatility, climate-driven yield collapses, illegal mining encroaching on farmland, and mounting pressure from the European Union’s deforestation regulation that threatens to cut off market access entirely.
Forson was unsparing about the stakes. “As the world’s two leading cocoa-producing countries, we must engage more consistently and strategically to protect our economies,” he said. “By doing so, we can better anticipate challenges, mitigate shocks, and shape the future of the industry rather than merely reacting to its disruptions.”
The initiative, launched jointly by Accra and Abidjan, was conceived as a counterweight to the dominance of multinational trading houses and processors that have historically captured the lion’s share of cocoa’s value.
Together, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire account for roughly 60 per cent of global cocoa output — leverage that, critics argue, has never been fully wielded.
Yet the sector’s structural contradictions endure. Global cocoa prices surged to record highs in 2024, briefly exceeding $10,000 per tonne, yet the windfall barely filtered down to farm level.
Many Ghanaian and Ivorian farmers continue to earn below the living income benchmarks set by development organisations, caught between fixed farmgate pricing mechanisms and rising input costs.
Forson acknowledged the weight of that history without flinching. “While we may not be able to resolve all our challenges here today, our collective determination to make a genuine and lasting positive impact on our farmers, our countries, and future generations should remain the driving force that guides our work,” he said.
“The relevance and necessity of this collaboration are undeniable, and we must ensure that it succeeds.”
The farmer at the centre
Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Food Production, Bruno Nabagné Koné, signalled that Abidjan shares Accra’s sense of urgency — and its impatience with incremental progress.
“We have gathered because we are combining our efforts. I do count on your spirit of responsibility,” Koné told delegates.
His remarks cut to the heart of a tension that has long bedevilled the initiative: the difficulty of harmonising cocoa pricing policies across two sovereign states with differing fiscal pressures, currency dynamics and political cycles.
“Ensuring decent income and justice through harmonisation of prices is critical,” he said. “Cocoa must first of all guarantee a worthy lifestyle for farmers.”
That aspiration is easier stated than achieved. Previous attempts to coordinate the Living Income Differential — a premium both countries introduced in 2019 to boost farmer earnings — have been undermined by market resistance from buyers, logistical inconsistencies, and periods of diplomatic friction between Accra and Abidjan.
The stakes are high enough that heads of state are now being drawn in directly. Forson disclosed that Presidents John Dramani Mahama of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire are expected to convene a high-level summit to reaffirm the strategic partnership and their shared commitment to the cocoa sector — a signal that political will, at least at the top, remains intact.
The 7th Steering Committee Meeting is expected to yield concrete recommendations on deepening bilateral cooperation and building what both governments describe as a more resilient, sustainable and profitable cocoa industry.
Whether those recommendations translate into structural change — or join a long list of well-intentioned communiqués that have yet to move the needle for farmers — remains the defining question.
“The cocoa sector deserves to be transformed into one that is more resilient, prosperous, and profitable for the benefit of both our countries and our farmers,” Forson said.
