Reform of the cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire is the world's leading cocoa producer with a production of about 1.9 million tons. The cocoa industry employs more than 800 thousand farmers and provides a living for about 8 million people. Cocoa marketing has undergone several changes. From a stabilized system of prices to producers, with the CAISTAB from 1960 to 1999, it was liberalized from 2000 with the creation of several management structures. In 2012, faced with the failure of liberalization, the Government undertook a reform that reintroduced a stabilization system and the creation of a single structure. This new system is based on auctions through an electronic messaging system and on a guaranteed purchase price to producers equal to at least 60% of the reference CIF price. Several fiscal and financial measures favorable to the industry have been introduced to increase the processing rate from 35% to 50% by 2020. For the overall sustainability of the sector, a cooperation with Ghana has been initiated to bring together the strategies of the two countries to face the challenges of the cocoa sector.