How the cocoa price crash is crushing West African farmers
Key takeaways
- Cocoa prices reached a peak in 2024 before plummeting by nearly 75%, dealing a financial blow to millions of farmers in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire.
- https://p.dw.com/p/5GNM5In 2024, cocoa beans once sold for $13,000 per ton, but now a farmer gets $3,000Image: Godong/picture alliance Advertisement It's a tough choice.
- Cocoa prices have recently plunged after the historic surge to nearly $13,000 (€11,000) per metric ton in 2024.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Cocoa prices reached a peak in 2024 before plummeting by nearly 75%, dealing a financial blow to millions of farmers in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. Will the crisis mark a turning point for the sector?
https://p.dw.com/p/5GNM5In 2024, cocoa beans once sold for $13,000 per ton, but now a farmer gets $3,000Image: Godong/picture alliance Advertisement It's a tough choice. "If I send my children to school and can't bring in part of the harvest, we won't have enough money for food. Or do I take them out of school so we can harvest more cocoaand have three meals a day?" a cocoa farmer from Cote d'Ivoire, told DW.
Cocoa prices have recently plunged after the historic surge to nearly $13,000 (€11,000) per metric ton in 2024. In early April 2026, the world market price temporarily fell to $3,000, a decline of more than 75% in just over a year.