Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers Strike Over 1,200 CFA/kg Farmgate Price as 2026/27 Main Crop Opens Slowly

Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, are holding an indefinite strike over the government's decision to keep the farmgate price at 1,200 CFA francs per kilogram for the 2026/27 main crop. The union SYNAPCI began the action in Daloa on September 13; purchasing stores in Haut-Sassandra have since been told to stay closed, and producers in Arrah, in the Moronou region, joined on September 17. For buyers, the immediate question is how much of the delayed main crop will reach Abidjan and San Pedro in the coming weeks.

SYNAPCI Extends Strike Order as More Growing Regions Join

On September 19, SYNAPCI regional coordinator Koné Zakaria told farmers in Bédiala to keep purchasing stores closed until further notice, relaying directives from the union's national leadership. The union demands a higher farmgate price and the resignation of Coffee-Cocoa Council Director-General Yves Brahima Koné.

Farmers joining the strike cite problems beyond the headline price: marketing difficulties, cooperative indebtedness and incomplete payments for beans delivered last campaign. The regulator still displayed the 1,200 CFA/kg guaranteed price as of September 18, and there is no sign authorities intend to revise it. Ports have not been blocked, and a nationwide shutdown is not established, but the movement now has identifiable participation in at least two producing regions.

The dispute coincides with the rollout of Ivory Coast's national traceability system, mandatory for all cocoa purchases from September 1 using a producer card. SYNAPCI contests the system; the Coffee-Cocoa Council maintains it works normally.

Farmgate Price Has Fallen 57% From Last Season's Record

The government set the 1,200 CFA/kg price on September 1 at the opening of the National Cocoa and Chocolate Days in Abidjan. The 2025/26 main crop opened at a record 2,800 CFA/kg before the price reverted to 1,200 CFA/kg for the intermediate campaign in March 2026. Authorities cite the volatility of global prices, which the agriculture ministry says have fallen roughly 70% since December 2025; New York December cocoa settled at $5,351 per tonne on September 21. The sector's weight makes the standoff nationally significant: Ivorian authorities put the number of cocoa producers at roughly 1.2 million, with close to eight million people depending on the crop. The main campaign runs through February 28.

Slow Season Start and Weak Rain Add to Supply Questions

Port arrivals confirm the uncertain start: an estimated 16,000 tonnes in the week ending September 20 brought the total since September 1 to about 20,500 tonnes. Reuters sharply corrected its early-season figures — arrivals through September 13 were revised down to 4,500 tonnes from an initially reported 26,000 tonnes. September is normally quiet ahead of the main-crop movement building from late October toward a December peak, so low numbers are partly seasonal, but the correction has made weekly arrival figures a key indicator.

Weather adds a second risk. Farmers told Reuters that below-average rainfall last week across most main growing regions could threaten the small pods due for harvest during the September-to-February main crop. No rain fell around Soubré and Divo in the latest week, and farmers warn that without regular rain before mid-October, harvesting could wind down in December. Overcast conditions are also complicating bean drying. One mitigating development sits elsewhere: Ecuador exported 62,751 tonnes of cocoa beans and products in August, up around 50% from July, according to ANECACAO data, strengthening its role as an alternative origin.

Price Gap and Withholding Could Restrict Q4 Export Flows

For buyers planning fourth-quarter and early-2027 coverage, several practical consequences follow:

• Offers may stay firm despite lower futures. Physical availability sets export offers. Withholding, if it spreads, tightens bean flows to ports regardless of where the screen price trades.

• Official arrivals may understate the real crop. The 1,200 CFA/kg farmgate price sits well below the roughly 2,000 CFA/kg equivalent published in Ghana, creating an incentive for beans to move unofficially across borders and complicating both supply estimates and traceability documentation.

• Weather risk sits on the later part of the crop. The rainfall deficit threatens the younger pods that would sustain production after December, so any price relief from a good initial flush could prove temporary.

• Traceability friction arrives at the same time. The new producer-card system could slow the movement of documented cocoa just as EU deforestation due-diligence requirements approach at year-end.

Our Position

Huanda Cocoa sources beans from West Africa, including Ivory Coast and Ghana, and processes them at three FSSC 22000 certified facilities in Cambodia, China and Indonesia, with COA documentation on every batch and exports to more than 62 countries. We are monitoring weekly arrival figures and the strike situation through our origin channels while contracting 2026/27 raw material. Buyers reviewing their fourth-quarter coverage can request current offers through our cocoa powder page, and our analysis of the cost drivers behind current price levels is available in our cocoa powder price trends article.

Sources

Benin Web TV — Ivory Coast: SYNAPCI maintains cocoa strike at 1200 FCFA — September 22, 2026
CocoaIntel — Cocoa Holds $5,300; Côte d'Ivoire Deliveries Corrected, Ecuador Exports Surge — September 21, 2026
ADMIS — Sugar Falls on Crop Concerns (cocoa section) — September 22, 2026
Financial Afrik — Ivory Coast: cocoa farmgate price set at 1,200 CFA/kg in the face of market turmoil — September 2, 2026