Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have agreed to align key cocoa pricing and marketing policies in a renewed push to improve farmer incomes, stabilise the market and strengthen their influence over the global cocoa trade.
The agreement was reached at a high-level summit on the future of the cocoa economy held in Abidjan on June 16, where President John Dramani Mahama and President Alassane Ouattara outlined a joint strategy aimed at securing greater value for cocoa-producing countries and protecting the long-term sustainability of the sector.
The two countries, which together account for about 60% of global cocoa production, pledged to harmonise farm-gate pricing policies, align premiums and synchronise crop season calendars as part of efforts to improve producer remuneration and deepen commercial cooperation.
The leaders reaffirmed that cocoa farmers must remain at the centre of governance and value distribution across the industry, arguing that fair and decent compensation is critical to sustaining production and maintaining social and economic stability.
The summit also reviewed gains made under bilateral cooperation, including the establishment of the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), implementation of the Living Income Differential (LID), harmonised producer price announcements, cocoa traceability systems and collaboration to combat Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease.
However, both countries acknowledged growing pressures facing the sector, including global price volatility, illegal mining activities affecting cocoa-growing areas, climate change, increasing use of cocoa substitutes and tightening international sustainability requirements.
To increase earnings beyond raw exports, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire also committed to expanding domestic processing capacity, promoting regional trade and boosting consumption of cocoa-based products across Africa.
As part of the next phase of cooperation, the two countries agreed to open the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative to other African cocoa-producing nations to strengthen collective bargaining power and coordinate responses to emerging industry challenges.
