Thrillers and Suspense
When Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo dissolved that country’s government and electoral commission on February 12, he created the latest roadblock in the long and difficult road to elections. The outcome was predictable. The elections, already postponed six times to March 2010, now are even father off. Even more disturbing was the dissolution of the Electoral Commission, the very entity charged with organizing the elections.
Divine Chocolate, my favorite chocolate maker, has done it again. They have just ordered the first fairtrade cocoa to come from the West African Country of Sierra Leone. Eight years after the end of its brutal civil war, with its economy still recovering, the farmers belonging to Kpeya Agricultural Enterprise (KAE) will enjoy the benefits of fairtrade.
The Ivorian President Gbagbo’s two-day visit to Ghana ended with a joint communique expressing the two countries’ resolve to influence international cocoa prices. The communique pointed out that increases in production have not yielded comparative increases in revenue for the countries. It further criticized the impact of global commodity cartels on cocoa prices. Finally, Gbagbo and Ghanaian President Mills reaffirmed their support for moving the headquarters of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) from London to Abidjan.
Continue reading “Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to Cooperate on Cocoa Prices”
Ghana’s Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor today announced the new cocoa producer price for the 2009-10 season. Farmers will receive GH¢2,208 ($1,511) per ton or GH¢138 ($94.50) per bag of cocoa. That’s a 35 percent increase over last year’s producer prices and about 71 percent of the FOB price of cocoa. With the current cocoa prices hovering around $3,300 per ton, I’m not sure how the 71 percent number was calculated. But the report indicated that the new price is the highest price ever paid to farmers.
Continue reading “Ghana Cocoa Board Increases Producer Prices”
The new cocoa year started on October 1st and its time to review some of the production data from the last cocoa year. Let’s start with the largest producer, the Côte d’Ivoire. According to an item in Africa Report, the West African country had its worst production in five years. Total cocoa exports amounted to 1,178,526 tonnes, 14 percent down from last years 1,367,877 tonnes. Exporters expect the current season to be just as bad, predicting exports in the range of 1 million to 1.15 million tons.
Continue reading “Côte d’Ivoire Production Reports for the Last Cocoa Year”
