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afrol News, 3 November - The conflict in Côte d'Ivoire and several years of poor global cocoa harvests have soared the price of cocoa in world markets. In Ghana, the government has seen to that farmers note the cocoa price hike; payments have risen by some 40 percent during the year. Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana's western neighbour, supplies about 40 percent of the world's cocoa. The unrest in the country, including warfare in the cocoa heartlands, has impeded impoverished Ivorian farmers to take part in this year's enhanced revenues from the cocoa trade. On the contrary; crop failure, political unrest and low government buying prices (set before the price hike) are making the 2002 season disastrous for Ivorian cocoa farmers. Not so on the other side of the border. In Ghana, cocoa farmers enjoy greater revenues as a result of the Ivorian crisis, which significantly has contributed to current record prices. Political stability and government support further assure farmers of cash revenue for their efforts. Government officials overseeing the cocoa production and trade have on several occasions seen to that the increased world market prices also were reflected in payments to producers. Government policy has been to adjust the price of cocoa each time there has been an improvement in world market prices. Thus, official prices in Ghana have increased by a total of 40 percent this year. The Ghanaian government, having in mind the importance of cocoa as a major foreign currency earner, also has intensified its efforts to secure good harvests. The Ministry of Agriculture embarked on a programme of free spraying of cocoa farms and running awareness workshops to help farmers improve their yield and boost production. For the poverty-ridden Western Region of Ghana, where cocoa production is concentrated, the price hike has been a necessity. A decade of record-low prices had crippled economic development in the region, now considered one of the most backward in the country. The continuous drop in cocoa prices ultimately led to the institutionalising of using child labour to make the industry pay off. Poor Ghanaian farmers however not are the only ones gaining from the elevated prices, which will be paid by cocoa and chocolate consumers world-wide. International traders and speculators have already taken their large part of the price hike. The Ghanaian government and Ghanaian traders also boom their revenues. According to the Ghanaian press, however, certain "unscrupulous elements" were now also taking advantage of the cocoa price hike. Several cocoa buyers in the Western Region were "cheating cocoa farmers" by spreading incorrect price information, the Accra-based 'Ghanaian Chronicle' has disclosed. Smuggling of cocoa was also a growing problem. Still, farmers had seen their part of the increased prices and were set for a good seasonal result. A tonne of cocoa at the world market now costs US$ 1,900. This is more than the double of last year, when prices were record low and had been falling for several years. The peace efforts in Côte d'Ivoire have however already affected cocoa prices, which are down 21 percent from last month's 17-year high of US$ 2,405. One man's meat is another man's poison, as the saying goes.
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