GHANA and Cote d'Ivoire have agreed to implement interventions to promote a sustainable cocoa economy, placing the farmer at the centre of priorities for the sector's governance and value sharing.
The agreement, jointly signed by Presidents John Dramani Mahama and Alassane Ouattara of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire respectively in Abidjan on Tuesday, June 16, is built on the Abidjan Declaration of March 26, 2018, which serves as the foundation for cooperation between the two States in the cocoa sector.
As part of the interventions, the two countries agreed to "harmonise Producer Pricing Policies by adopting a common framework comprising the principles and methodology for the determination of Producer Prices, and reinforcing Trading Room alignment and Market Intelligence".
The two presidents also agreed to "guarantee farmers fair and decent remuneration and place them permanently at the heart of the cocoa value chain".
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The declaration aims to "strengthen scientific cooperation towards integrated management of diseases, particularly the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Viral Disease".
They also agreed to "add value by processing substantial volumes of cocoa locally while stimulating local and regional consumption."
It is also to "consolidate the cocoa alliance between Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana and open it up to other African producer countries, to enhance cooperation in market intelligence, research, advocacy, industrialisation, and intra-African trade."
Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire account for about 60 per cent of global cocoa production, which confers upon them shared leadership and a special responsibility for the future of the sector.
Achievements of the cooperation between the two countries are the creation of the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative, the establishment of the Living Income Differential, the harmonisation of marketing and price announcements to producers, the implementation of traceability and the African Regional Standards for Sustainable Cocoa, and the cooperation between research institutes to combat the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease.
The two presidents noted that the sector remains exposed to major challenges such as price volatility, illegal gold mining, adverse effects of climate change, the rise in the use of cocoa substitutes and equivalents, and the increasing demands of international sustainability regulations which needs to be addressed.
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"Fair remuneration for farmers is a pillar of the sector's sustainability and a requirement for economic justice and social stability," they stated.
