Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have reached a landmark agreement to harmonise their cocoa farm-gate pricing policies in a move aimed at boosting farmer incomes, stabilising the market, and strengthening cooperation between the world’s two largest cocoa-producing nations.
The agreement was announced in a joint declaration issued by President John Mahama and President Alassane Ouattara following a high-level summit on the future of the cocoa economy held in Abidjan on Tuesday.
Both leaders emphasised the strategic importance of their countries in the global cocoa industry, noting that Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire together produce about 60 percent of the world’s cocoa. This dominant position, they said, places a responsibility on both nations to shape the future of the sector while improving the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
Under the new arrangement, the two countries will align their farm-gate pricing systems to enhance producer earnings, minimise market distortions, and deepen commercial collaboration. The initiative also includes closer coordination of cocoa markets, alignment of cocoa premiums, and harmonisation of crop-season calendars.
The policy shift is expected to significantly reduce cross-border competition and smuggling—long-standing challenges in the sector—while strengthening the bargaining power of both countries in the global cocoa market.
Presidents Mahama and Ouattara reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring fair compensation for cocoa farmers, describing it as essential to the long-term sustainability of the industry and critical to promoting economic justice and social stability in cocoa-growing communities.
The leaders also highlighted progress made under the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative, citing achievements such as the implementation of the Living Income Differential, coordinated price announcements, and joint efforts in cocoa traceability and sustainability standards.
However, the declaration acknowledged ongoing challenges facing the cocoa sector, including volatile global prices, illegal mining activities, climate change impacts, the increasing use of cocoa substitutes, and tightening international sustainability requirements.
Beyond pricing reforms, both countries pledged to strengthen scientific collaboration to combat cocoa diseases, particularly the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease, and to expand cocoa processing, value addition, and domestic consumption.
In a broader push to enhance Africa’s influence in the global cocoa trade, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire also announced plans to extend their cocoa initiative to other African producing nations, with the goal of harmonising policies across the continent and increasing collective bargaining power.
The agreement marks a significant step toward a more coordinated and resilient cocoa industry in West Africa, with far-reaching implications for farmers, governments, and global markets alike.
