The Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) has expressed its commitment to advancing the cause of its members.
According to the organization, it firmly believes that cocoa can be made a sustainable commodity if stakeholders put their acts together.
“The CIGCI remains committed to advancing the cause of its members, and we firmly believe that, together with the relevant stakeholders, we can make cocoa the first truly sustainable commodity market, sustain the transformation of the cocoa economy, and make it profitable for all, especially the cocoa farmer, without whom there is no cocoa and chocolate,” it said in a press release dated October 2.
By establishing the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), member countries sought to provide a common voice and vision, and enhance policy coordination to promote the collective interest and well-being of their people. The CIGCI emerged out of a strong commitment from Ivorian President SEM Alassane Ouattara and Ghanaian President HE Nana Akuffo-Addo, to balance the scales and build a sustainable cocoa sector with the income of the farmer at the center.
According to the press release, “Together, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana implemented the Living Income Differential mechanism, driving hard the resounding call for global cocoa stakeholders to pay closer attention to the economic sustainability of cocoa farmers, without which the transformation of the sector cannot be achieved.”
“Both countries are combining efforts to tackle the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus and other diseases affecting cocoa farms. Continuous engagements are in place to ensure cocoa pricing and sales systems are aligned and joint actions have been implemented to strengthen the fight against cross-border cocoa smuggling. Delivering a sustainable cocoa ensuring a living income to farmers irrespective of market price fluctuations remains our horizon,” the CIGCI assured.
“The recent announcements of cocoa producer prices from our member countries are representative of the aligned and joint efforts that the two largest producers of cocoa in the world continue to make to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers and ensure a more sustainable cocoa economy.
They represent a critical step towards ensuring that prices reflect the true value of cocoa, something which could have been achieved only punctually over decades of erratic market prices,” it said.
“As we commemorate International Cocoa Day 2024, we remind the world that much remains to be done to ensure that cocoa is sustainable across all its dimensions – and chief among these the price paid to farmers -, that it can be produced at scale in a thriving cocoa economy.
With demand-side regulation on sustainable production in global supply chains and supply-side threats of aging and diseased farm plantations, competing land uses and smuggling on the rise, collective efforts and joint action are critical. Together, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have developed national traceability systems and are implementing the African Regional Standard for Sustainable and Traceable Cocoa,” the press release concluded.