Cameroon cocoa farmgate prices hit 2025/26 season high
Cameroon’s cocoa farmers are receiving the highest farmgate prices of the current marketing season as stronger buying activity lifts prices ahead of the campaign’s conclusion.
CAMEROON – Cameroon’s cocoa farmgate prices have climbed to their highest level of the 2025/26 marketing season, with farmers receiving between CFA2,100 and CFA2,250 per kilogram as of June 30, according to data from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board’s (ONCC) market information system.
The increase comes just two weeks before the marketing season concludes on July 15 and follows the first time prices exceeded the CFA2,000 per kilogram threshold on June 22.
While the ONCC did not provide an official explanation for the sustained increase, the rebound is widely viewed as reflecting stronger purchasing activity by cocoa processors and exporters seeking supplies before the season closes.
The latest price improvement provides a welcome boost to farmers’ incomes after a campaign that was largely characterized by prices below expectations set at the beginning of the season.
Despite the recent gains, current farmgate prices remain significantly below the exceptional levels recorded during the previous two marketing seasons.
During the 2024/25 campaign, prices reached as high as CFA5,400 per kilogram, while some production areas recorded prices of around CFA6,000 per kilogram during the 2023/24 season.
Those record prices had raised expectations for the current campaign. At the launch of the 2025/26 marketing season in Mbankomo on August 7, 2025, Cameroonian authorities projected farmgate prices ranging between CFA3,200 and CFA5,400 per kilogram.
However, market conditions evolved differently during the season. The gap between projected and actual prices reflects changing dynamics in the global cocoa market. After severe supply shortages pushed international cocoa prices to historic highs, recent estimates indicate a return to a global cocoa surplus.
Commodity market analysts have attributed the softer price environment to improved global supply conditions combined with slower industrial demand in some key consuming markets, reducing upward pressure on international cocoa prices.
The latest farmgate price increase also comes as Cameroon continues to expand domestic cocoa processing capacity. Earlier this year, Chocolat Rouge commenced production at its cocoa processing facility in the Lékié Division of the Centre Region, with the first chocolate bars expected to reach the market shortly.
Launched in June 2024, the facility forms part of Cameroon’s broader strategy to reduce exports of raw cocoa beans and increase the production and export of higher-value processed cocoa products for both domestic and international markets.
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