Cocoa prices Since the beginning of 2023, they increased more than three times. The main causes are climate change and diseases that destroy plantations. The Coast of the ivory and Ghan, responsible for two -thirds of the world production of cocoa, has become an epicenter of smuggling, which destabilizes local markets, “informs the Financial Times.
Farmers, tempted by higher profits, sell grain to intermediaries who smuggle them to neighboring countries, such as Burkina Faso, Togo and Sierra Leone. Although these countries almost do not have their own plantations, they record a rapid increase in cocoa exports. Illegal grain then goes to large processors in Europe, including in Belgium and the Netherlands, and from there to global chocolate producers.
Nicko Debenham, a former cocoa trader, emphasizes in an interview with “FT” that the same roads were previously used in financing armed conflicts during civil wars on the ivory coast.
Cocoa smuggling. Two countries in the center
The scale of the problem is huge. According to government data, in the years 2023-2024 about 150,000 were smuggled from Ghana. tons of cocoa, which is even 25 percent. domestic production. 200,000 were smuggled from the ivory coast. tons, which significantly affects the country's economy, where cocoa export is responsible for 15-20 percent. GDP.
In response to the crisis, both Ghana and the ivory coast raised the prices of cocoa purchase more than twice. However, as the growers indicate, the new rates are still much lower than those offered by smugglers. In Ghana, farmers can currently count on around $ 4,800. For a ton in a legal purchase, while smugglers offer up to twice as much.
In 2024, the ivory coast government recognized cocoa smuggling as an economic crime and tightened the rules. Officials received additional rights to prosecute traders. However, as “FT” notes, corruption remains the main obstacle in the fight against the procedure. Only this year five high -ranking officials, including the police commissioner and the head of the Customs Service, were detained for taking bribes from smugglers.
