Ivory Coast’s cocoa mid-crop set for growth after heavy rainfall
Farmers report that the regular showers will help young cocoa pods mature, ensuring strong yields later in the season.
IVORY COAST – Heavy rainfall across Ivory Coast’s cocoa-growing regions signals a promising end to the April-to-September mid-crop, according to farmers.
The country, world’s top cocoa producer, has entered its April to mid-November rainy season, a period when showers are abundant and often heavy.
The western region of Soubre, the southern region of Agboville, and the eastern region of Abengourou all saw above-average rainfall, while precipitation in the southern region of Divo was below average.
Farmers across the regions said harvesting was picking up and noted an abundance of large pods on trees that would be ready to harvest in May and June.
“With this weather, we’ll have good quality beans,” said Laurent Gnaly, who farms near Soubre, where 36.1 mm of rain fell last week, 17.4 mm above the five-year average.
Despite the promising signs in most of the country’s cocoa-producing regions, some areas are experiencing below-average rainfall, potentially leading to a tighter supply.
Nevertheless, farmers are optimistic as growing conditions improve, especially since the demand for beans is strong.
In the centre-western region of Daloa, and in the central regions of Bongouanou and Yamoussoukro, where rainfall was above average, farmers said growing conditions were improving, but supply remained tight.
“The grinders ask us for a lot of beans, but there’s not much cocoa coming in from the bush,” said Antoine Koffi, who farms near Yamoussoukro, which recorded 38.3 mm of rainfall last week, 16.7 mm above the average.
Ivory Coast anticipates harvest rebound on improved weather
Last year, informed sources from industry regulator Le Conseil Café-Cacao (CCC) revealed to Bloomberg News that the country was likely to harvest 2 million tons of cocoa beans in the 2024/2025 season from October 1.
This prediction was 200,000 tons higher than the 1.8-million-ton estimates by the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) and significantly lower than the 2.2-million-ton average harvested in the past five years.
According to Bloomberg, the sources used early pod counting to arrive at the predicted harvest recovery.
The world’s largest cocoa producer sold 800,000 tons of the 2024/2025 cocoa harvest via futures as the regulator banks on improved weather conditions. However, forward sales have been halted in the Ivory Coast as part of the regulator’s efforts to reform the cocoa market.
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