Isaac Tongola
Fairtrade Africa has called for stronger collaboration among cocoa farmers, traders, regulators, governments and other industry stakeholders to accelerate efforts to secure living incomes for cocoa farmers amid persistent market pressures and rising production costs.
The call was made at the Fairtrade Africa Change Day 2026, which brought together Fairtrade-certified smallholder farmers and workers from across Africa, traders, development partners and other stakeholders to assess progress in improving farmers’ livelihoods and discuss solutions to market access challenges.
The event followed the publication of new Fairtrade Living Income Reference Prices for cocoa, which provide a benchmark for the price farmers need to earn a decent living from cocoa production.
For Ghana, the reference price has been set at GH¢45.40 per kilogramme, equivalent to about US$3.95 and representing a 10 percent increase over the previous level. In Côte d’Ivoire, the price is 1,758 CFA francs per kilogramme, approximately US$3.11, reflecting a 47 percent increase.
The immediate past Board Chair of Fairtrade Africa, Benjamin Kouame, stressed the need for collective action and continuous monitoring to ensure that interventions produced sustainable results.
“We are here today with our partners to make a point and to check where we commenced, evaluate where we have gotten to, look at the difficulties and challenges we’ve encountered and come up with solutions to ensure that our activities are more sustainable,” he said.
Mr. Kouame said economic models that delivered greater financial benefits to farmers and workers were essential for strengthening livelihoods and enabling communities to invest in development projects and build resilience.
The Executive Director of Fairtrade Africa, Isaac Tongola, said the new Living Income Reference Prices provided a clear benchmark for buyers and other actors seeking to develop sustainable cocoa supply chains.
He explained that while the Fairtrade Minimum Price provided a safety net when market prices fell below production costs, the Fairtrade Premium offered additional funds that farmers could invest in their businesses and communities.
The Living Income Reference Price, he said, represented the income required for farmers and their households to achieve a decent standard of living from cocoa production.
Fairtrade Africa said its West Africa Cocoa Programme had reached more than 48,000 beneficiaries in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Poverty levels among beneficiaries had declined to 17 percent, while the proportion earning a living income had increased from 28 per cent to 48 per cent.
However, stakeholders said challenges remained, including low productivity, plant disease, rising input costs and market access constraints.
They called for sustained investment and strategic partnerships to improve cocoa quality and productivity while strengthening farmers’ resilience and building commercially viable supply chains.
A Business Desk Report