Cocoa prices have seen a dramatic downturn following an unprecedented rise to nearly $13,000 per metric ton in 2024, leaving millions of farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire reeling from the repercussions. By early April 2026, the global market price had plummeted to around $3,000—an alarming drop of over 75% within a year.
This collapse has wreaked havoc on the roughly 2.5 million smallholder cocoa farmers scattered throughout West Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire, producers are compelled to sell their cocoa beans at unsustainable prices, with one farmer expressing despair that their community is “dying in poverty.” In Ghana, many are grappling with delayed payments as middlemen opt out of purchasing crops altogether.
While Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana account for approximately two-thirds of the world’s cocoa supply, the export market remains largely dominated by a handful of large corporations, leaving small farmers vulnerable in the face of market volatility.
