Disturbing Cacao News
December 28, 2010
The instability of the government has fostered an active smuggling operation of cacao out of Ivory Coast and into neighboring Ghana.
It is being speculated that many thousands of metric tons of cocoa beans have been smuggled to Ghana from Ivory Coast since the harvest began in October.
I recently read a Bloomberg article updating the situation in the Ivory Coast. To jog your memory, a recent blog post of mine titled, Two Presidents of Ivory Coast, introduced the political situation in the largest cacao producing African country of Ivory Coast.
Laurent Gbagbo has still refused to give up power to Alassane Ouattara, who was named winner after a November election and has support from the U.S., United Nations, and the European Union. Gbagbo has the backing of the military and continues to acknowledge himself as the winner.
Difficulties transporting cacao from the interior of Ivory Coast to its ports raises the cost for the farmer and bites into their already too small profits. With prices for beans higher in Ghana, Ivory Coast farmers are attracted to smuggling their product.
At the moment, the Ghana Cocoa Board is denying that there is an increase in smuggling. But if it is true, the board will have their hands full fighting a major quality control problem and trying to keep the Ghana bean origins authentic.
Here's the Bloomberg article if you'd like more details:
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