Chapter 8. Cocoa and cotton commodity chains in West Africa 261
the success of producer organizations whose primary function is (or should be) buying cocoa from farmers
and selling it to exporters.
One of the most obvious differences between cocoa and cotton is the system of transportation from the
farmgate to either the port or processor. Cocoa is produced under the canopy of a rain forest and harvest
occurs during the rainy season. Roads remain poor so traders have invested in all-terrain vehicles. Agents
whose names vary from one country to another (pisteur in Côte d’Ivoire, cassier in Cameroon) come to farms
to purchase cocoa.^5 Problems with inadequate drying or fermentation, and possibly market power of local
traders as well, derive from this system of acquiring cocoa at the farmgate. Producer organizations also often
lack a system of buying agents, making it difficult to compete with traders. Cotton is often transported by
farmers to ginning agents or traders. Cotton farmers are likely to be located in less remote locations, served
by better transportation networks. Roads in cotton areas were often constructed by parastatals.
2.4 Prices along the value chain
Figure 2 depicts the cocoa value chain in West Africa, utilizing Cameroon (and its language) as an example.
Cocoa beans are produced by smallholder farmers and sold at the farmgate to agents (cassiers, coxeurs,
pisteurs), who are sometimes independent and sometimes employees of traders. Small and large traders, as well
as producer cooperative organizations, are located in buying centers in the larger villages or towns. Farmers or
buying agents may sell cocoa beans to cooperatives. Traders and cooperatives deliver cocoa beans to both local
and multinational exporters at the port, who ship cocoa beans overseas to foreign processors. The processors
now located in Africa are owned by the multinational exporters. Those processors transform beans into butter,
powder, paste and liquor which are in turn sold to chocolate manufacturers and food processors. Prices for
cocoa can be observed at the farmgate, in the buying centers, at the port, or in overseas markets.
Figure 2. Cocoa Value Chain in West Africa
Source: Abbott, Muir and Wilcox, 2006
(^5) Farmers who brought their cocoa to buying centers received lower prices, even before considering transportation costs,
than farmers who waited for agents to come to the farm in Cameroon (Wilcox, 2006).
Coxeur
Cooperative Traders
Cocoa Producers
Exporters (Local/Multinational)
Foreign Processors
Marketing Chain Active Stakeholders Cocoa Status Price Received
Farmgate prices
(^)
Buying Center
prices
Village
Buying Center
“Entrée-usine”
price
Port
f.o.b. price
Europe
Processed ProductPrice
Chocolate Product
Price
Cocoa beans^
Cassier Cocoa beans
Cocoa beans
Cocoa butter
liquor
powder
Chocolate
Tablets
Cocoa beans
Fair trade
Chocolate
Manufacturer
Bulk
Chocolate
Manufacturer