West African cocoa commitments face major tests

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
West African ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Mutual Benefit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Income Differential ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Cocoa Farmers ◽  
Price Floor

Subject West African Cocoa. Significance Having amended a June proposal for a cocoa price floor of 2,600 dollars per metric tonne (mt), Ivory Coast and Ghana are seeking to enforce compliance with a revised plan that instead includes a 400-dollar-per-mt Living Income Differential (LID) to improve cocoa farmers' livelihoods. The LID applies to purchases starting in the 2020/21 season; compared to 2019/20 forward sales at this time last year, current sales for 2020/21 are down by two-thirds. To ensure LID compliance, the two cocoa regulators -- the Ivorian Coffee and Cocoa Board (CCC) and Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) -- have vowed to monitor whether chocolate companies and processors' sustainability programmes can co-exist to mutual benefit. Impacts Both governments will maintain pressure for LID compliance, as they seek to demonstrate efficacy in improving rural livelihoods. The future LID price incentive to farmers may come into conflict with Ivory Coast’s stated goal to limit cocoa production from next year. Third-party certification schemes and in-house sustainability programmes will face pressure to demonstrate equivalent impact to the LID.

Jihadist expansion into West Africa will take time

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Ivory Coast ◽  
West African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Intelligence Sharing ◽  
Joint Operations ◽  
Hit And Run ◽  
Security Assistance

Significance While the overall number of incidents is fewer than a dozen since the rise of the region's jihadist insurgencies in the early 2010s, the trend lends credence to growing warnings about the jihadist threat to coastal West African countries. Concern has focused on Ivory Coast and Benin, but there is also nervousness about Ghana, Togo and even Senegal. Impacts Western governments will boost security assistance to coastal states. Intelligence sharing and joint operations will not forestall cross-border hit-and-run attacks. Most regional states will resort to security-focused responses whose abuses drive jihadist recruitment.

Ghanaian cocoa prices point to LID implementation

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Income Differential ◽  
Ethical Sourcing

Significance The price bump comes amid a push by Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world's two largest producers, for cocoa buyers to pay a Living Income Differential (LID) of USD400 per metric tonne. Impacts Despite paying the LID, buyers may not be able to downsize their sustainability programmes given productivity and ethical sourcing demands. Cameroon and Nigeria may wish to join an expanded agreement, which would cover nearly 75% of global supplies. The increased attention on the Ghanaian government’s cocoa-related demands may see greater domestic scrutiny over its sectoral management.

Weather, disease to hit West Africa cocoa output

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Black Pod ◽  
Black Pod Disease ◽  
Remittance Flows

Subject Outlook for cocoa production in West Africa. Significance Erratic rainfall and outbreaks of black pod disease in Ghana, along with ethical concerns in the Ivory Coast, are driving market fears of global cocoa shortfalls for the coming 2015-16 harvesting season. Anticipating a supply crunch, cocoa futures on the London-based ICE Futures Europe and the New York-based ICE Futures US exchanges today traded at highs of 2.21 pounds per metric tonne (MT) and 3.28 dollars per MT respectively. Impacts The expansion of French retailers such as Carrefour in Ivory Coast should provide opportunities for marketing locally produced chocolate. Opposition to genetically modified cocoa crops could hamper their adoption in Ghana, marring climate resilience initiatives. If effective, clampdowns on poor labour conditions in Ivory Coast could reduce remittance flows to poorer neighbouring states. Firms providing accreditation services in response to rising demand for 'ethical' cocoa could be hampered by poor data.

Ivorian fiscal consolidation plans face multiple risks

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Growth Spurt ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Risks ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Impact

Subject Ivory Coast economic update. Significance The post-civil war growth spurt is expected to taper to around 7% per annum over the medium-term, from an average of 9% during 2012-16. While this partly reflects a gradual slowdown in productivity, it also underscores the influence of public investment on Ivory Coast's growth. With public investment expected to decline, the most likely source of near-term growth is foreign direct investment (FDI), which picked up last year, albeit from a low base. Impacts Government revenues may decline as petrol taxes are reduced to absorb the impact on pump prices of a recent spike in oil prices. Ivory Coast-Ghana proposals on synchronising cocoa production will likely be overshadowed by smuggling and a lack of political will. Apart from Niger, all countries in WAEMU will meet the bloc's fiscal targets on time.

West African cocoa farmers face price disappointment

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Market Price ◽  
Market Price ◽  
World Market ◽  
West African ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
Cocoa Farmers ◽  
Guaranteed Minimum Income

Significance However, with COVID-19-related disruptions weakening chocolate demand, and expectations for another tumble in cocoa’s world market price, the Ivorian Coffee and Cocoa Board (CCC) and the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) face budgetary challenges in providing a promised guaranteed minimum income. Impacts Though both regulators face pre-season financing challenges, they expect to secure financing for 2020/21 harvest cocoa purchases. Chocolate manufacturers in consumer countries will maintain pressure on the CCC and Cocobod to pay out the LID as promised to farmers. Demand for chocolate is expected to recover in the medium term, giving some reassurance for an eventual modest cocoa price recovery.

Incumbent's win spells policy stability in Ivory Coast

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Power Pool ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
National Reconciliation ◽  
Compensation Payments ◽  
Policy Stability

Significance However, official figures also report that turnout dropped significantly to 54.63%, compared with a reported 80.0% in the 2010 election. The substantial minority that did not take part lays bare the national reconciliation challenges ahead. Impacts Ouattara could face pressure to scale up compensation payments to individuals claiming to be victims of wartime violence. The stable, euro-pegged CFA franc will insulate Ivory Coast from depreciation-linked debt distress hurting many sub-Saharan African states. Regulatory bottlenecks will slow the development of the West African Power Pool, limiting Ivory Coast's prospects for exporting electricity.

West African coastal states will fear jihadist threat

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Ivory Coast ◽  
National Park ◽  
West African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sahel Region ◽  
Security Crises ◽  
Regional Governments

Subject Jihadists' coastal threat. Significance Deteriorating security and widening jihadist control in eastern Burkina Faso, combined with the wider security crisis in the Sahel region as a whole, have raised credible fears that jihadist violence and other security crises could spread into coastal West African countries (Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo). Sporadic terrorism has occurred in some of those countries in recent years, notably the attack on an Ivorian resort in March 2016 and a kidnapping in Benin’s Pendjari National Park in May 2019. Yet there is still more reason for caution than alarm when it comes to predicting the spread of jihadism in West Africa, given the Malian and Burkinabe insurgencies took years to unfold. Impacts Regional governments may look to increase assistance to President Marc Christian Roch Kabore’s administration ahead of the 2020 polls. Joint security efforts involving Burkina Faso and its coastal neighbours will prove piecemeal given their sporadic, underdeveloped nature. A 2018 joint security initiative and resulting arrests suggest Benin and Togo may be the more vulnerable to new jihadist infiltration.

scholarly journals Orientation towards social responsibility of North-West African firms

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández ◽  
Luísa Cagica Carvalho ◽  
Inna Sousa Paiva
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Ivory Coast ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
West African ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
Guinea Bissau

Purpose Corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO) is considered a crucial strategy to enhance long-term competitiveness around the world, and it is starting to be a broader issue in Africa. Based on recent works addressing the CSRO–performance relationship in countries outside the African continent, this paper aims to assess CRSO in North-West Africa. Design/methodology/approach In this study a questionnaire was distributed among 122 managers in two countries in North-West Africa: Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to assess the path or relationships for the North-West African context. Findings The results show that there is a generally positive perception of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of CSRO, although special emphasis is laid on the economic and social issues, mainly when they are related to human resources. The study also revealed the important role of innovation as mediator between CSRO and firm performance. Practical implications The study points out the role of managers in promoting a culture of social innovation by focussing on the CSR philosophy for improving the competitive success of African businesses. Social implications The social, economic and legal contexts of Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast are vulnerable. The findings raise concerns about whether governments and regulatory efforts improve the development of the strategies towards social responsibility of African firms and whether they also increase the role of the firms in producing positive externalities to the market through CSRO. Originality/value Very few studies have investigated CSRO in Africa. Aiming to switch from the current CSRO in developed countries to an African perspective of CSRO, this paper contributes to filling the existing gap through the study of managers’ perceptions about CSR in two countries in North-West Africa: Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast.

Revisiting the profitability and technical efficiency of cocoa production amidst economic diversification program of the Nigerian Government

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wasiu Olayinka Fawole ◽  
Burhan Ozkan
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
The Body ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Production Environment ◽  
Social Implication ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Foreign Earnings ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Cocoa Farmers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess how profitable and technically efficient is cocoa enterprise in Ondo State of Nigeria especially amidst the ongoing diversification program of the current administration in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study made use of primary data collected with the aid of structured questionnaires. The multistage random sampling technique was used to select the sample for the study. Data collected during the survey were analyzed by both descriptive and inferential techniques. A total of 140 respondents who were majorly cocoa farmers were selected for this study with data on their socioeconomic characteristics and input utilization taken and subsequently analyzed. Findings This study found that the cocoa enterprise in the study area was efficient and profitable with rooms for improvement, especially in the areas of labor and input used as identified by the outcome of the study. The average yield, total revenue, gross margin and efficiency ratio were 1.2 ton/ha, ₦1,344,000.00/ha, ₦1,071,717.00/ha and 0.36, respectively. The highest, average and least technical efficiencies among farmers in the study area were 98.86, 88.81 and 75.12 percent, respectively. It was also discovered that none of the farmers investigated operated at 100 percent, confirming that there are still rooms for improvement in the production processes in the study area by adopting modern methods of production and replacement of the old breeds with resistant and high yielding breeds. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of this study was that the study sample is quite smaller and could as well not be used to make a strong policy case for the topic under consideration. However, as it is found among the majority of cocoa farmers in Nigeria, they mostly operate under the same conditions of production which suggests that the outcome of this research is not meaningless, considering the similarities in the production environment and other factors of production among cocoa farmers in Nigeria. It is therefore strongly recommended that future studies take into consideration this limitation and address it appropriately by widening the scope and sample for the study as this will go a long way in giving true representation as regarding the topic under consideration. Social implications The social implication of this study has to do with the employment opportunities that will be created for the teaming youths if the cocoa enterprise is made to attract them by creating enabling environment as recommended by the study. When quantity of production is improved, it will create additional income for the farmers and also provide foreign earnings to government. Originality/value This study is strictly original, considering its content and the contribution it is making to the body of knowledge. The study will be contributing to the knowledge by pointing out the potentials inherent in cocoa production as especially coming at a time when the price of crude oil that provides over 80 percent of Nigerian foreign earnings is down and the cocoa price is not only high but also stable at the international market.

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