In Duekoué, in western Ivory Coast, tons of cocoa are piling up in warehouses. Due to a lack of exports, the sector of the world's leading producer is today paralyzed. Since mid-October 2025, with prices falling on the world market, exports have been slowing down and stocks are accumulating everywhere, plunging producers into economic and social distress.
Cooperatives, which operate like consignment stores, accumulate export requests, called bills of lading, without a response from the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC). Siriri Millogo, director of a local cooperative, has sent thirteen requests since the beginning of January, all of which have gone unanswered. "Validation of the bill of lading usually only takes a few minutes", he explains, helpless in the face of administrative paralysis.
This situation plunges producers into distress. Marty Somda, from the Cabend cooperative, says: A farmer came to us with a production estimated at nine million CFA francs, but he didn't even have five francs for his wife's funeral. "Others, like Laurent Koné, are forced to sell their cocoa at ridiculous prices to deal with the emergency: "I was given an order to pay, but how can I pay? I sold my cocoa for 2,000 francs while the official price is 2,800. "
The price of cocoa, set by the Ivorian state twice a year, is today disconnected from world prices, which have fallen to around $5,000 per tonne, compared to $12,000 at the end of 2024. If the CCC affirms that "all production will be purchased", according to Yves Brahima Koné, its director, concrete implementation is slow, and many exporters find themselves unable to make their purchases due to lack of quotas.
The guaranteed price system, designed to protect producers from market fluctuations, proves paradoxical. Exporters, purchasing at the price set by the state, risk losses that the law provides to compensate, but the guarantee fund is not activated. Moussa Koné, trade unionist, deplores: "Whoever produces cocoa is not protected. "
The poor sales crisis recalls similar episodes, as in 2017, and illustrates the vulnerability of Ivorian producers, on whom a fifth of the country's population indirectly depends. Pending an administrative solution, the sector, which represents 14% of Ivorian GDP, remains paralyzed, and thousands of families live in uncertainty and poverty.
