STORY: Unsold bags of cocoa beans are piling up in Ivory Coast.
And at Sekou Dagnogo’s warehouse in the town of Duekoue they’re nearly at the ceiling.
That’s a sign of how a global slump in cocoa demand is coming up against a record high price set by the regulator in the world’s top cocoa producer.
Dagnogo says farmers trust his cooperative to sell their cocoa, which they can usually do quickly.
“But honestly, things haven’t been going well for quite some time now, so everything is at a standstill for the moment and we currently owe the farmers a lot of money.”
Dagnogo’s hope is that the Coffee and Cocoa Council will step in.
In January the regulator launched a program to buy cocoa beans to help farmers.
Concerns about declining cocoa inventories stored in poor conditions forced the regulator to accelerate those purchases earlier this month.
That’s after, at the start of the main crop harvest, the Coffee and Cocoa Council increased its marketing price to a record 2,800 CFA francs, or a little over $5, per kilogram.
The aim was to improve farmers’ income and ensure the development of the sector.
But volatile global prices started to drop.
Last week they hit their lowest levels in more than two years.
Now, farmer Frederic Kouassi Kouassi says, buyers won’t pay the farmgate price.
Instead, he says, they offer lower prices – something that’s prohibited by the regulator.
“In other words, they offer us a choice that doesn’t suit us, and due to a lack of resources, we are forced to accept these prices.”
For now, Kouassi is storing bags of beans in his home.
But he doesn’t want them to accumulate.
The mid-crop, when cocoa farmers will harvest again, is approaching.
Since the first crop has not been paid for, and the accumulating cocoa beans become a burden, he says he could be forced to offload his inventory for a pittance.
But he’s facing the challenge with a positive outlook.
“The trees are still alive,” he says. “So you accept and never get discouraged.”