Exporters say, Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, faces 100,000 t of cocoa being piled-up due to the global pandemic and a drop in demand. Farmers are struggling and are getting less than the guaranteed farm gate price. The country received good weather, meaning good soil for a bigger mid-crop, but farmers are finding it hard to sell.

The exporters did not say which of their international buyers had asked to postpone shipments, but the unwanted stockpile adds to a growing store of beans at ports after chocolate makers and buyers in Europe and the United States asked that deliveries scheduled for October-December be postponed to January-March. Chocolate makers such as Mars Inc, Hershey and Barry Callebaut purchase Ivorian cocoa. The estimated 100,000 t of beans stuck at farms and cooperatives amounts to roughly one-third of Ivory Coast’s monthly output at this time of year.

Farmers are desperate for money to sustain a living and this delay is hindering their livelihoods. The guaranteed farm gate price of 1,000 CFA francs (USD 1.82) per kg is not being met. They have made sales for as little as 900 to 950 CFA francs per kg.