Cameroonian cocoa gets international breakthrough amid supply deficits

Cameroonian cocoa is now selling at an all-time high price on the international market following soaring demand and low yields from other top cocoa-producing countries in the world.

The Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, recently congratulated local cocoa farmers for the effort they have made to place Cameroonian cocoa top on the international market.

In the country, a kilogramme of cocoa beans was sold at FCFA 4,225 during a group sale of cocoa at Abong-Mbang, a town in the East Region on March 5.

This price is more than double the amount cocoa farmers were receiving during the same period last year.

Minister Mbarga Atangana attributed the lucrative price to “a buoyant international context and the sustained and recognised recovery in the quality of the Cameroonian bean.”.

The price of cocoa beans per kilogramme has doubled compared to what farmers received last year.

This follows an upward trend in prices on the international market, caused by a drastic drop in supply from top producers in Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Aside from battling with aging cocoa plants, these countries are also experiencing adverse weather conditions caused by climate changem

The result has been an increase in cocoa disease and low yields.

Ivory Coast, for example, witnessed a 30 percent drop in cocoa exports between October 2023 and March 2024, according to the business website Trading Economics.

The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) further projects an 11 percent drop in global cocoa production during the 2023–24 cocoa season.

The deficit is estimated at -374,000 tonnes, which is much wider than the -74,000 metric tonnes registered during the 2022–23 season.

At the moment, cocoa is trading at 7,100 euros per tonne on the international market, which is double the price of 3,015 euros per tonne during the same period last year.

According to the economic news website Business in Cameroon, local cocoa farmers are leveraging group sales to boost their bargaining power among buyers.

Farmers’ strong bargaining power, coupled with the increasing global demand and the fall in supply account for the surging prices.

©Mimi Mefo Info