The Ivorian Minister of Agriculture Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani announced at a press conference held on Tuesday 20 January 2026 that the government will buy about 123,000 tons of cocoa unsold, identified in the main production areas.

In Ivory Coast, the State decided to get its hands on to the pocket to avoid a lasting crisis in rural areas. According to the Minister, the objective is to preserve the income of planters and maintain the price guaranteed at a historically high level. For the Ivorian executive, he is above all a question of reassuring producers, worried about seeing their bags of Cocoa accumulate at the edge of the tracks, with no buyer.

Since the start of the main campaign, the kilogram of cocoa is set at 2,800 FCFA, a record in the recent history of country. A price that the government intends to defend at all costs, despite the deterioration of the international context.

To deal with the current situation, the authorities rely on a system based on three major actions, in particular, an accurate inventory of unsold stocks in all basins of production.

- the effective purchase of these stocks by the State, at guaranteed price, in collaboration with the Interprofessional Agricultural Organization Café-Cacao and local administrative authorities.

- and an extensive information and awareness-raising aimed at producers, cooperatives and buyers, in order to to speed up the removal of beans.

Furthermore, on international markets, Cocoa prices have fallen sharply since September 2025. In London, the ton went from over 5,000 pounds sterling to around 3,500 pounds, or a drop by about 30%. A sharp reversal that has chilled some buyers. and slowed kidnappings in Ivorian production areas.

Noted that in Côte d'Ivoire, cocoa accounts for 15 to 20 per cent of GDP, about 40 per cent of export earnings, and supports between 6 and 8 million people, almost a quarter of the population.