Image: King Bangaba / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Côte d'Ivoire set the guaranteed minimum farmgate price for the 2026/27 main cocoa crop at 1,200 FCFA per kg on 1 September 2026, down 57% from the 2,800 FCFA paid at the start of the previous season.
Côte d’Ivoire fixed the guaranteed minimum farmgate price for the 2026/27 main cocoa crop at 1,200 FCFA per kilogram, Agriculture Minister Bruno Nabagné Koné announced on 1 September 2026, Pulse Côte d’Ivoire reported. The coffee price was set at 1,300 FCFA per kg, down from 1,700 FCFA. The cocoa price is 57.1% lower than the 2,800 FCFA per kg paid at the opening of the 2025/26 season and unchanged from the reduced level set for the intermediate crop in March 2026.
Reasons for the cut
According to Pulse, the government cited volatility on international markets and the need to preserve the budgetary balance of the marketing system. World cocoa prices had fallen from a peak near US$13,000 a tonne in December 2024 to about US$6,500 a tonne by late August 2026.
Reuters, in a report republished by Abidjan.net on 31 August 2026, said the regulator, the Conseil du Café-Cacao (CCC), sells forward about 80% of the projected harvest and had contracted more than 1.1 million tonnes at reduced prices. Options between 1,200 and 1,500 FCFA per kg were considered. A government source told Reuters: “our simulations indicate that maintaining the guaranteed price…is the best solution and least costly option for public finances.”
Smuggling risk
The same report warned that lower prices raise the risk of beans being smuggled to neighbouring countries without cocoa export taxes, and cited estimated flows of about 100,000 tonnes a year exported through Guinea and 30,000 tonnes through Liberia.
Why it matters
The Ivorian system ties the farmgate price to forward sales made by the CCC months in advance, so the price decision is essentially a function of contracts already signed. That protects the state’s marketing balance but transfers the price fall directly to farmers, which can strain supply agreements with cooperatives and raise leakage across borders. For exporters and grinders, the key legal points are licence and quota conditions, the CCC’s enforcement of the minimum price along the chain and any adjustments to export tax. Traders financing pre-harvest purchases and banks lending to cooperatives should model a lower revenue base and closer scrutiny of traceability, which also matters for compliance with the EU deforestation regulation. Counsel advising buyers should watch for disputes over contracts written at earlier, higher prices, and for any changes in the conditions of forward sales for the 2027/28 crop.
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