Accra: The cocoa sector has experienced heightened volatility in recent years, driven by market volatility, environmental degradation, and human rights challenges. As cocoa prices soar to record highs, millions of smallholder farmers in C´te d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria, who produce most of the world’s cocoa, remain trapped in poverty.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Cocoa Barometer 2025 revealed that West Africa’s producers continued to bear the heaviest burdens of climate shocks, governance gaps, and unfair value distribution. C´te d’Ivoire and Ghana together produce more than 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, shaping global prices and policy, while Nigeria is emerging as a major player, projected to produce 350,000 tonnes in the 2024/25 season. Yet despite this dominance, most farmers have not benefited from the recent price surge.
Mr. Nana Yaw Reuben of the Cocoa Barometer noted that forward-selling mechanisms had delayed price increases, while yields continued to decline due to aging trees, crop diseases, and erratic rainfall linked to climate change. The Cocoa Barometer also highlighted that farmer poverty was at the root of virtually all problems in the cocoa sector, from deforestation to child labor and gender inequality.
Mr. Reuben emphasized the importance of fair compensation for farmers, citing new human rights and environmental legislation. He expressed concern that political resistance in Europe could threaten progress in regulation. High prices are driving a boom in cocoa production, leading to deforestation spreading to new regions in West Africa. The report highlights that 1.5 million children still work in dangerous conditions in cocoa farming in Ghana and C´te d’Ivoire, and women remain excluded from decision-making and profit sharing.
The Cocoa Barometer also stressed the importance of recognizing farm workers and tenant farmers, who are vital to cocoa cultivation but often overlooked in discussions. It called for stronger collaboration within the sector among farmers, governments, companies, and civil society to achieve systemic change.
The report urged urgent action, including fair pay committed to a living income for farmers, a global moratorium on deforestation from cocoa cultivation, recognition of farmers as co-decision makers, and the implementation of transparency and accountability mechanisms throughout the supply chain.
The Cocoa Barometer, published by a consortium of civil society organizations, offers a state-of-sustainability overview of the sector, highlighting current challenges and progress, and providing a long-term perspective on major developments and emerging risks.