Sector structures
Cocoa cooperatives
The first organised link for farmers: collecting, selling, certifying and financing together.
- Status
- Cooperative societies (OHADA law), grouped into unions and federations
- Oversight
- State approval and monitoring, with the Coffee-Cocoa Council
- Members
- Family farmers on a few hectares
- Support
- Certification, inputs, training, pre-financing
What a cooperative does
- Collect members’ beans and sell on better terms
- Supply inputs, seedlings and farm advice
- Carry certifications (sustainability, fair trade) and receive premiums
- Support traceability: registering farmers and plots
- Ease access to credit and community services
A networked organisation
Primary cooperatives join unions and then federations, which represent them before authorities, exporters and partners. Exporters can buy directly from them, under the supervision of the Coffee-Cocoa Council.
Challenges
Governance and transparency, cash flow and financing, bean quality, inclusion of youth and women, and compliance with export traceability. Only a share of the harvest is collected through cooperatives: the rest moves through local buyers and independent traders.
The exact number of approved cooperatives changes each season: see the lists published by the Coffee-Cocoa Council.
Keep exploring
History of cocoa in Côte d’IvoireFrom the colonial introduction to world leadership.The cocoa sectorIn-depth article on the sector and its challenges.Cocoa map and portsProducing regions and export ports on an interactive map.Port of San-PédroThe western cocoa loop’s export gateway.Port of AbidjanBeans and processed products from the main port.Private and public bodiesRegulators, support agencies, exporters and grinders.