The Cocoa and Coffee Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COCEFAAA) is demanding a complete overhaul of the global cocoa economy to protect the income of producers on the continent.
The call came after the 7th Steering Committee Meeting of the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative in Abidjan on June 16, 2026.
The COCEFAAA Global President, Comrade Adeola Adegoke, while commending the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said it is important to rely on producer-country leadership rather than passively depending on external markets.
However, the alliance cautioned that bilateral cooperation must cover a broader continental architecture to protect smallholders across Africa from destabilizing price shocks.
The core of COCEFAAA’s intervention targets the stark inequities in the global supply chain. Africa alone produces about 80% of the global cocoa supply. However, it captures a mere 6% of the value of the chocolate market, currently valued at over $165 billion.
The alliance reiterated that this imbalance “is not a market failure; rather, it reflects a structural issue where Africa provides a basic raw material while the added value, branding, and pricing control are held elsewhere.”
COCEFAAA has called on the steering committee to prioritize local processing capabilities, advising other nations to emulate Côte d’Ivoire’s success as the world’s top grinder.
To protect smallholder farmers against the extreme price volatility observed between 2025 and 2026, the alliance is pushing for bold structural mechanisms, most notably a standardized minimum pricing framework.
Specifically, COCEFAAA is demanding “a price floor that is not less than $6000 per metric tonne, and that can guarantee a fairer farmer’s income”.
The group insists that supply management and strategic reserves within Africa must dictate prices, rather than leaving the livelihood of smallholders in the hands of futures markets in London and New York.
The association also advocated transforming the intervention into a formal “African Cocoa Producers’ Bloc” encompassing other major producers like Nigeria and Cameroon.
In the end, COCEFAAA argues that a successful cocoa industry in Africa will not be sophisticated communiqués, but “must be evaluated at the farm gate, prosperity, and the incomes of the cocoa farmers”.
The group believes that true impacts should translate into rural families being able to afford education, infrastructure being genuinely improved, and smallholder voices being fully integrated into global trade dialogues.
