In Duekoué, in western Ivory Coast, tons of cocoa are piling up in warehouses. Lacking exports, the sector of the world's leading producer is currently paralyzed. Since mid-October 2025, with the fall in prices on the world market, exports have slowed and stocks are accumulating everywhere, plunging producers into economic and social distress.
The cooperatives, which operate like consignment shops, are accumulating export requests, known as bills of lading, without any response from the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC). Siriri Millogo, director of a local cooperative, has submitted thirteen requests since the beginning of January, all of which have gone unanswered. "The bill of lading validation usually only takes a few minutes," he explains, powerless in the face of the administrative paralysis.
This situation is plunging producers into despair. Marty Somda, from the Cabend cooperative, recounts: “A farmer came to us with a harvest 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 ridiculously low prices to cope with the emergency: “I was ordered to pay, but how am I supposed to pay? I sold my cocoa for 2,000 francs when the official price is 2,800.”
The price of cocoa, set by the Ivorian state twice a year, is now disconnected from world prices, which have fallen to around $5,000 per ton, compared to $12,000 at the end of 2024. While the CCC claims that "all production will be bought," according to its director Yves Brahima Koné, concrete implementation is slow, and many exporters are unable to make their purchases due to a lack of quotas.
The guaranteed price system, designed to protect producers from market fluctuations, is proving paradoxical. Exporters, buying at the state-set price, risk losses that the law stipulates should be compensated for, but the guarantee fund is not being activated. Moussa Koné, a union representative, laments: "Those who produce cocoa are not protected."
The sales crisis is reminiscent of similar episodes, such as in 2017, and illustrates the vulnerability of Ivorian producers, on whom a fifth of the country's population indirectly depends. While awaiting an administrative solution, the sector, which represents 14% of Ivory Coast's GDP, remains paralyzed, and thousands of families live in uncertainty and poverty.
