Ivory Coast will send officials to calm protests by cocoa farmers, source says

Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) will send officials to the centre-eastern part of the country to calm tensions among farmers who protested last week over unsold cocoa stocks they say are rotting, despite a council pledge to buy the beans. A source close to the council told Reuters this information.

Farmers have not been paid for beans sold during the main crop, fuelling protests and discouragement that could weigh on the next harvest. In the centre-eastern town of M'Batto, police tear-gassed dozens of farmers last week as they blocked roads while demanding payment for their cocoa. Unsold cocoa stocks built up from November to December after global prices fell sharply below local prices. The government launched a programme to collect the unsold beans, but many farmers and cooperatives say they still have not been paid for the main-crop cocoa harvested between October and March. In the centre-western region of Daloa, the head of a cooperative representing more than 300 farmers said it also still holds about 150 metric tons of unsold beans from the main crop. Albert Konan, a farmer and manager of the cooperative, said, "This situation will affect the next (main crop) harvest because growers were counting on a lot of money to maintain their plantations."

In the western regions of Soubre and Duekoue, several farmers said they had resigned themselves to selling main-crop cocoa at the lower mid-crop price of 1,300 CFA francs ($2.34) per kilogram. Salif Kone, who farms near Duekoue, said, "We can't get (the main crop price of) 2,800 francs per kilogram. Instead, the beans from the main crop are going bad, so I sold them for 1,300 francs per kilogram." Pauline Zei, manager of the I