Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast on strike

Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast on Wednesday embarked on strike over the refusal of Cocoa buyers to buy their harvests this year.

The farmers in the world’s biggest cocoa exporter nation are asking the government to buy some 80 percent of cocoa bean yet to be purchased as they rot at ports and farmers penniless.

The BBC Africa reported that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cocoa beans are backed up at ports. 

It is believed that a third of the country’s annual export is in trucks rotting away.

Farmers are also reported to have left pods to rot on the trees.

The BBC said the latest challenges are down to falling international cocoa prices along with a rise in the local price of cocoa.  

About six million people depend on cocoa proceeds in Ivory Coast – more than a quarter of the entire population.

Source: Africafeeds.com