Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) is the world’s largest cocoa producer, growing roughly two-fifths of the global supply. Cocoa is the backbone of the national economy and a major source of export earnings.
Most cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers who harvest, ferment, and dry the beans before selling them to local buyers. Abidjan, the economic capital, is the hub where major exporters and trading companies including Cargill, Olam, and Barry Callebaut handle procurement, processing, and shipment through one of West Africa’s busiest ports.
The industry faces serious challenges. An estimated 2.1 million children work in hazardous conditions in cocoa production in Ivory Coast and Ghana, according to research by NORC at the University of Chicago. Cocoa expansion has also driven extensive deforestation, with the country losing most of its forest cover since the 1960s.
In response, Ivory Coast joined the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, launched in 2017 with chocolate companies and partners, to map supply chains, promote traceability, and protect remaining forests.
Related: sustainable agriculture degree in Burkina Faso, West African economic development in Togo, and West African literature master’s in Accra, Ghana.
