Cocoa and coffee farmers urge African bloc to set a $6,000 floor price to curb foreign control.

By Cynthia Alo

COCEFAAA has urged the creation of a unified African cocoa producers’ bloc and the establishment of a minimum floor price of at least $6,000 per metric tonne, aiming to coordinate production and enhance farmers’ bargaining power across the continent.

The association believes these measures would reduce Africa’s reliance on commodity exchanges in London and New York, which still influence global cocoa prices.

In a statement, COCEFAAA’s Global President, Comrade Adeola Adegoke, issued the call and praised the successful hosting of the 7th Steering Committee of the Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana Cocoa Initiative in Abidjan, calling it proof of increasing producer‑led collaboration.

He highlighted that Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, together responsible for roughly 60 % of global cocoa production, have shown that coordinated producer action can substantially influence industry direction and policy debates.

Adegoke urged that the current bilateral arrangement be broadened into a continental framework that incorporates other cocoa‑producing nations, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

He cautioned that Africa’s cocoa sector remains vulnerable to sharp price swings driven by external markets, noting that prices once spiked above $11,000 per tonne before falling sharply, a volatility that destabilizes producing countries.

He emphasized that, although Africa supplies the majority of global cocoa, the continent captures only about 6 % of the estimated $165 billion chocolate value chain, underscoring the necessity for stronger collective bargaining and greater local control over pricing.

“No single commodity exchange outside Africa should dictate the earnings of African farmers for cocoa produced on African land. We must move from fragmented national responses to a coordinated African producers’ bloc.”