Côte d’Ivoire’s agriculture minister, Bruno Nabagné Koné, confirmed a farm-gate price of CFA 1,200 per kilogram for properly fermented, dried and sorted cocoa in the 2026–27 main season. The price, announced on 1 September and reported internationally on 3 September, remains at the level introduced for the mid-crop after a steep fall from the previous record.
At the close of the National Cocoa and Chocolate Days in Abidjan on 3 September, Koné acknowledged the debate and called for dialogue. A local report published on 4 September quoted him saying regulators must be more transparent and do a better job explaining how prices are set. That is a government response to criticism, not evidence that farmers’ concerns have been resolved.
The decision follows weaker world prices and pressure from unsold stocks. With roughly five million people dependent on the Ivorian cocoa economy, the consequences reach household income, crop maintenance, smuggling incentives, public revenue and domestic processing. Transparency now means publishing enough of the pricing mechanism for growers to see how international sales, costs and stabilisation decisions produced the CFA 1,200 figure.
