Cocoa beans spoil and farmers in West Africa look for alternatives following a collapse in commodity prices

Cocoa Farmers in West Africa Face Uncertain Future Amid Price Collapse

Manu Yaw Fofie, a lifelong cocoa farmer in Ghana, has found that the land passed down to him has become more of a liability than an asset. Over the past year, cocoa prices have plummeted, leaving warehouses in West Africa filled with unsold, spoiling beans, even as chocolate manufacturers worldwide scramble to secure enough supply for their products.

With his income dwindling, the 52-year-old Fofie has resorted to leasing part of his farmland to illegal sand miners, a practice fueled by the booming demand for construction materials, particularly concrete. However, this comes at a steep cost: sand mining renders the soil barren and unsuitable for future farming.

Despite understanding the long-term harm, Fofie feels he has few alternatives. His annual cocoa harvest has steadily declined—from a peak of 300 bags in previous years to just 50 bags projected for 2025—due to a combination of factors, including changing climate conditions.

Fofie’s situation is not unique. Many cocoa growers in Ghana and Ivory Coast—the two countries that together account for nearly 70% of the world’s cocoa bean supply—are turning to other uses for their land after the commodity’s price nosedived.

Ivory Coast, the top cocoa producer globally, was forced to purchase surplus beans from farmers earlier this year and has now cut the official price for 2026 by more than half.

While cocoa, like other global commodities, is susceptible to market volatility, Edward Karaweh, former general secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union in Ghana, noted that the scale of this crisis caught authorities off guard. “Being prepared helps you manage a crisis, even if you can’t prevent it entirely,” he said.

From Boom to Bust: Cocoa Price Volatility

Hundreds of thousands of West African families depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods. In Ivory Coast, cocoa exports account for 40% of the country’s export earnings, while in Ghana, they represent nearly 15%.

To shield farmers from unpredictable global prices, government agencies set a fixed price for cocoa beans at the start of each planting season. Most beans are then sold through licensed intermediaries.

However, after cocoa futures soared to over $12,000 per metric ton in 2024—a decades-high record—they soon crashed to around $4,000 as supply outpaced demand. This sharp decline meant international traders faced losses if they bought beans from Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The result has been a growing backlog of unsold, decaying cocoa in storage, and many farmers who had already delivered their crops to government buyers have gone unpaid for months.

Farmers Miss Out as Prices Swing

Due to systemic challenges, many farmers were unable to benefit from the brief price surge. The rapid swings in the market have pushed some to abandon cocoa altogether.

Climate Change and Alternative Incomes

In Ivory Coast, farmer François N’Gbin walks among his cocoa trees, pointing to pods blackened and shriveled by disease and drought. He, too, has leased part of his land to illegal gold miners, later obtaining a mining license to avoid legal trouble.

The mining operation, which covers at least 1,000 square meters of his farm and is partly filled with murky water, has become more lucrative than cocoa. “Gold brings in 1,500 CFA francs (about $2.67) per gram, and we’re negotiating for even higher prices,” N’Gbin explained.

Moussa Koné, head of the Ivorian cocoa farmers’ union, said many others are following suit, renting out their land to gold miners. “Cocoa isn’t selling, but farmers still need to support their families,” he said.

Government Responses and Farmer Protests

In response to the crisis, Ghana has relaxed some price controls and, in January, reduced its fixed cocoa price by 28% to 41,392 cedis (about $3,881) per metric ton to attract buyers. Ivory Coast followed suit, slashing its price for 2026 by more than half to 1,200 CFA francs ($2.13) per kilogram.

Farmers argue that these price cuts leave them with almost no profit after covering production costs. “If I accept the current price, my son will have to leave school,” said Mercy Amponsah, a 50-year-old cocoa farmer in Ghana who joined protests in Accra earlier this year.

While cocoa production in South America and Asia has improved, West Africa remains the world’s primary supplier. Yet, for farmers like Fofie, survival now means seeking new sources of income.

“If I keep working this cocoa farm for another decade, I’ll die in poverty,” Fofie lamented.

Reporting by Adetayo from Lagos, Nigeria.