President John Dramani Mahama and President Alassane Ouattara have reaffirmed the strategic partnership between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the cocoa sector, adopting a landmark Joint Declaration aimed at securing sustainable incomes for farmers, strengthening environmental protection, and accelerating local industrialisation.
The agreement was reached during the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana High-Level Summit on the Future of the Cocoa Economy held in Abidjan on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
President Mahama returned to Accra following what officials described as a successful bilateral engagement focused on addressing longstanding challenges in the cocoa industry and positioning the two countries to exert greater influence in the global cocoa market.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the Joint Technical Committee and emphasized that cocoa farmers must remain at the center of all governance and policy decisions affecting the sector.
“With Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire producing approximately 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, both countries have a special responsibility to ensure that farmers receive fair value for their labour and that the industry remains sustainable for future generations,” the declaration noted.
A major outcome of the summit was the reaffirmation of the Living Income Differential (LID) mechanism and efforts to harmonise producer prices between the two countries.
The leaders agreed that aligning their marketing strategies and coordinating price announcements would help shield farmers from fluctuations in international commodity markets and improve income security.
The summit also focused on environmental threats facing cocoa production.
President Mahama and President Ouattara voiced concern over the increasing impact of illegal mining activities on water bodies and agricultural lands in both countries.
The two governments agreed to develop a joint strategy to aggressively combat illegal mining, undertake large-scale cleanup operations of affected water sources, and strengthen measures to address the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity.
In the area of research and innovation, the leaders pledged deeper collaboration between their national research institutions to combat the devastating Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) and other pests and diseases affecting cocoa farms.
The declaration further outlined a shared ambition to transform both countries from exporters of raw cocoa beans into major industrial processing hubs.
This will involve expanding local cocoa processing capacity, encouraging value addition, and promoting the consumption of cocoa products across Africa.
President Mahama and President Ouattara also signaled their intention to expand the cocoa alliance by welcoming other African cocoa-producing nations into the partnership.
The move is expected to strengthen Africa’s collective bargaining power and increase the continent’s share of the global cocoa-chocolate value chain.
Key Resolutions of the Joint Declaration
The Joint Declaration adopted at the summit commits both countries to:
Implement a common framework for determining producer prices and strengthen market intelligence systems to ensure fair remuneration for cocoa farmers.
Recognise the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) and the African Regional Standards for Sustainable Cocoa (ARS-1000) as key instruments for sustainability and traceability.
Intensify cooperation between national research institutions to eliminate Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD).
Process significant volumes of cocoa locally and promote intra-African trade in finished cocoa products.
Expand the cocoa alliance to include other African producers in order to increase Africa’s participation in the global cocoa and chocolate value chain.
The summit marks a significant step in the efforts of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to reshape the global cocoa economy, ensuring greater benefits for farmers while positioning Africa to capture more value from one of its most important agricultural commodities.
Story: Patrick Asford Boadu
