(Ecofin Agency) - In Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the majority of cocoa producers live below the poverty line. This worrying situation from a social point of view and for the sustainability of the cocoa industry has led the authorities of both countries to set up several initiatives over the past 3 years.
Companies in the cocoa value chain that do not pay the living income differential (DRD) of $400 on a tonne of Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa by November 20, face heavy penalties.
In a statement released on Tuesday, November 8, the Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC) and the Cocoa Board of Ghana (Cocobod) indicate that the said companies could see the suspension of their sustainability programs and be denied access to plantations for make harvest forecasts.
For the regulators, this approach aims to encourage manufacturers to keep their "freely expressed" commitments on the payment of the DRD in order to guarantee a remunerative price to producers and allow them to capture a better share of the $100 billion bonanza generated annually by the world cocoa and chocolate market.
" The partnership that we must forge together is one of mutual respect for our commitments to ensure the sustainability of the sector and lift the millions of small producers in our countries out of poverty", underlines the press release. More broadly, this is the latest manifestation of the will of the two countries, which do not intend to "compromise the means of subsistence of their producers".
Previously, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, which produce about two-thirds of the world's cocoa, boycotted the meeting organized on October 26 and 27 in Brussels by the World Cocoa Foundation, because of the industrialists' attempt to negotiate at the lowers another premium, the original differential.
Source : Agence Ecofin