Ivory Coast cocoa harvest could fall by 21% to 25%
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Sowetan
Ivory Coast’s cocoa production for the 2026-2027 season could fall by 21% to 25% due to an exceptionally intense El Niño episode. Lower rainfall and higher temperatures are also expected to disrupt farming calendars and reduce water resources, according to Sodexam, Ivory Coast’s meteorological agency.
Ivory Coast’s cocoa production could fall by 21% to 25% during the 2026-2027 season due to an exceptionally intense El Niño episode, according to a note from the National Meteorology Directorate of Sodexam, Ivory Coast’s public agency responsible for meteorological services. The combination of water shortages and high temperatures is causing wilting and premature dropping of young pods, flower abortion and defoliation of cocoa trees, according to the same note cited by Reuters.
Annual rainfall could decline by 10% to 27%, with a shorter rainy season and a longer dry season, while rising temperatures are expected to disrupt planting calendars and put pressure on water reserves and hydroelectric dams, Sodexam said. Ivory Coast, the world’s leading cocoa producer, harvested more than 2 million tonnes during the previous season, according to exporters.
Cocoa arrivals are already below initial forecasts, the director of a European cocoa exporting company based in Abidjan told Reuters. Farmer Simplice Koua, who cultivates six hectares in Duékoué, had sold 14 80-kg bags at the same time last year, compared with three this year, Reuters reports.
Sodexam’s warning comes after the UN’s warning of a new era of climate extremes in 2026, published on 9 November, which placed extreme weather events at the centre of its concerns: the UN warning on climate extremes in 2026.
