Residual Cocoa Stocks, CCC Ends Evacuation Operations as Farmers Demand Accountability

By Ousmane Attai in Abidjan

In a statement issued on 5 August, Côte d'Ivoire's CCC announced that it had completed the evacuation of residual cocoa stocks, previously estimated at around 100,000 tons, as several producer organisations are calling for an audit of stock management and the publication of the list of cooperatives that benefited from the evacuation operations.

For the authorities, the decision is intended to allow the sector to prepare for the opening of the new season in a more peaceful environment.

But for farmers, several questions remain unanswered:

• How much cocoa is still in the hands of farmers, cooperatives and buyers?
• How much cocoa was actually evacuated?
• And, above all, what criteria were used to select the beneficiaries?

For several days, trade union organisations have been touring the main cocoa-producing areas to gather information on the stock situation. They are calling in particular for an independent audit of the operation and the publication of the list of cooperatives that benefited from the evacuation process.