Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire have suspended the sale of cocoa beans to the open market in the 2020/2021 crop season until further notice, the state-owned Daily Graphic is reporting.
The two countries, which contribute more than 65 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, are said to have announced their decision to about 300 stakeholders in the cocoa value chain, comprising traders, processors, and chocolate manufacturers gathered in Accra.
The move is part of a plan to get the stakeholders in the value chain to grant farmers a price that commensurates with their contribution to the sustenance of the cocoa industry.
The paper reports that the gesture, which is the first of its kind by the world’s top two cocoa growers, is meant to put pressure on stakeholders to adopt a floor price for the soft crop.
Under the arrangement for a floor price, the two countries have agreed that none of the two countries will sell their produce in the international market below the agreed minimum price.