Ivorian farmers strike, cocoa arrivals hit

ABIDJAN – Ivory Coast’s main cocoa farmers’ association began an indefinite strike yesterday to demand higher prices and more financing, and buyers reported arrivals of beans at ports were hit.

“The warehouses are open in San Pedro but they are empty. There are no lorries in front of the warehouses.The strike has started and the effects are already visible,” Hussein Attie, a buyer in western San Pedro port, told Reuters.Another buyer for a major international cocoa exporter in Abidjan told Reuters: “There’s just one lorry at our warehouse when we usually have more than 20 on a Monday morning.””The strike started and it has affected arrivals.We’ve got less cocoa this Monday than usual.We can expect even less in the coming days if it continues,” he added.The Anaproci cocoa farmers’ association, to which around 80 per cent of Ivorian growers belong, had called the strike from yesterday to demand higher prices for cocoa and improved financing for farmer-owned cooperatives.Nampa-ReutersThere are no lorries in front of the warehouses.The strike has started and the effects are already visible,” Hussein Attie, a buyer in western San Pedro port, told Reuters.Another buyer for a major international cocoa exporter in Abidjan told Reuters: “There’s just one lorry at our warehouse when we usually have more than 20 on a Monday morning.””The strike started and it has affected arrivals.We’ve got less cocoa this Monday than usual.We can expect even less in the coming days if it continues,” he added.The Anaproci cocoa farmers’ association, to which around 80 per cent of Ivorian growers belong, had called the strike from yesterday to demand higher prices for cocoa and improved financing for farmer-owned cooperatives.Nampa-Reuters