Ghana and Ivory Coast to ‘re-examine' cocoa industry's sustainability schemes

October 11, 2019 5:59 PM

The top two cocoa-producing countries have said that they would re-examine the sustainability scheme of the cocoa industry.

This re-examination is coming since the chocolate makers have been slow to pay Ghana and Ivory Coast a living income differential (LID) for their beans.

The two West African countries produce more than 60% of the world’s cocoa. They introduced the $400 living income differential (LID) in July 2019 on all cocoa sales for the 2020/21 season.

This was done in a bid to ease pervasive farmer poverty.

In a joint statement, Ivory Coast and Ghana said “the (chocolate) brands are focusing on their sustainability programmes at the expense of the LID. The two countries (are) therefore re-examining all sustainability and certification programmes for the 2019/20 season.”