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WCF PM 2026

Code Red for Cocoa? West Africa’s Pricing Crisis Overshadows World Cocoa Foundation Summit

As the WCF Meeting opens in Amsterdam on 17 February, industry leaders will gather under the banner: ‘Securing Cocoa’s Future in a Changing World’. But the most urgent threat to that future is unfolding in real time, far from European conference halls - is it time to announce a ‘code red’?

,   and  Anthony Myers
5 min read
Image shows two emergency lights.
Image: Etienne Girardet / Unsplash

With cocoa futures settling at $3,699 per tonne on Friday, 13 February — down $25 on the previous session — the global market has cooled sharply from last year’s record highs. As reported by cocoaradar.com in its intelligence briefing, cocoa prices are trading near long-term support in the mid-$3,800s per tonne. A break below this zone could expose further downside momentum, while a rebound at support would offer the first sign of stabilisation.

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 Yet farmgate pricing decisions taken during the recent boom are now reverberating through West Africa’s marketing systems. Across Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where price volatility, liquidity strains and regulatory credibility are under intense pressure, farmers and producers remain anxious about their financial future. 

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