(Bloomberg) --
Ivory Coast raised the price it pays cocoa farmers for their main crop by 11%, falling short of growers’ hopes after futures rose to a 12-year high.
The world’s top grower of the chocolate ingredient will pay farmers 1,000 CFA francs ($1.61) per kilogram for the bigger of two harvest seasons in 2023-24, up from 900 CFA francs paid in 2022-23, Minister of Agriculture Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani said at a ceremony in Abidjan, the capital. The main crop harvest starts on Oct. 1 and ends on March 31.
Cocoa advanced this year after poor weather and disease concerns dampened the crop outlook in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s top producers.
Read More: Brace for Pricier Chocolate If Africa’s Cocoa Crop Disappoints
Ivory Coast farmers sought a 44% increase in the farmgate price after the market rally, which would enable them to boost investment in their farms. Ghana raised farmers’ pay by 64% in September, partly to help counter bean smuggling to its neighbor, after the nation’s currency weakened this year.
Ivory Coast raised the farmgate price for coffee to 900 CFA francs per kilogram from 750 CFA francs, Adjoumani said.
