Autonomous Port of Abidjan
The country’s and sub-region’s largest port. It handles beans from the centre and east, hosts grinding plants and ships butter, powder and liquor.
Côte d’Ivoire
Map of the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire
Where Ivorian cocoa grows, where it leaves the country, and who makes the sector work.
Major production area
Important area
Secondary / developing area
Export port
Areas are shown by a landmark point (main town) and a proportional circle: they are approximate and do not trace administrative boundaries. Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Producing regions
Ivorian cocoa grows in the southern forest belt, from the west to the south-east, and is moving into the centre-west as old orchards in the east wear out. The west and centre-west (Nawa, Haut-Sassandra) are now the heart of production.
- Nawa (Soubré) Major area
The country’s leading production area, driven by the western pioneer fronts. - Haut-Sassandra (Daloa) Major area
Major collection and trading hub of the centre-west. - Gôh (Gagnoa) Important area
Long-established cocoa area, often with ageing orchards. - Lôh-Djiboua (Divo) Important area
South-centre, close to the coast and the grinding plants. - Marahoué (Bouaflé) Important area
Northern edge of the cocoa belt, moving towards the savannah. - Guémon / Cavally (Duékoué, Guiglo) Important area
Far west on the Liberian border; sensitive forest areas. - Indénié-Djuablin (Abengourou) Important area
The main eastern hub, on the border with Ghana. - Sud-Comoé (Aboisso) Secondary area
Cocoa alongside rubber, oil palm and banana. - Mé / Agnéby-Tiassa (Adzopé, Agboville) Secondary area
Older orchards near Abidjan, under land pressure. - Moronou (Bongouanou) Secondary area
Transition zone between forest and the centre. - Centre-West frontier (Séguéla) Secondary area
Developing cocoa area, to watch (soils, rainfall).
Cocoa ports
Autonomous Port of San-Pédro
The port of the western cocoa loop, close to Soubré and Daloa; one of the world’s leading bean-export ports.
Beans travel by road from production areas to port warehouses, where they are checked (quality, weighing) before shipping. A growing share is ground locally and exported as butter, powder or liquor.
The cocoa sector in the country
Cocoa is Côte d’Ivoire’s main export crop; the country is the world’s largest producer, supplying roughly 40% of world output depending on the season. It supports several million people, mostly on family farms of a few hectares, and weighs heavily in export earnings, rural incomes and public finances.
- FarmersSmallholders, often in cooperatives; harvest, fermentation, drying.
- CollectionLocal buyers, licensed traders and cooperatives gather beans in villages, then in towns.
- Exporters and grindersTrader-exporters and processing plants (international groups and national players).
- PortsAbidjan and San-Pédro: inspection, storage, shipping.
- MarketsChocolate makers and industrials in Europe, the Americas, Asia and, increasingly, Africa.
Who governs the sector?
The Coffee-Cocoa Council (CCC), the regulator created by the 2011-2012 reform, sets the guaranteed farm-gate price each season, organises forward sales of the crop and supervises sector players. Public bodies for research (CNRA) and extension (ANADER) support farmers.
Current challenges
Ageing orchards, low yields, farmer incomes, deforestation and traceability requirements (notably European), action against child labour, and the rise of local processing.
Figures are indicative orders of magnitude; see our articles and Coffee-Cocoa Council releases for each season’s official numbers.