Accra (AFP)

Kwame had to give up her cocoa plantation to work in Accra. But when the government of Ghana announced it was demanding a minimum purchase price for cocoa beans in the markets last week, it began to dream of a return to the land.

"If the government raises prices, then farmers will be able to pay for fertilizers, pay for weed killers, employ more farmers, and thus increase their production," he said. "And if production goes up, it means more money, as prices go up."

Last week, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, the two largest cocoa producers in the world, threatened to suspend bean sales until a minimum price of $ 2,600 per tonne was introduced.

One way, explained the officials of the two countries, to put an end to the "unreasonable" situation, which sees cocoa farmers harvest barely 6% of the $ 100 billion generated by the chocolate industry.

A measure welcomed with kindness by Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, head of the farmers' union.

"We have nothing to sell, apart from cocoa, so if governments have thought of producers, if they come together to fight for producers, we support them," he told AFP.

For Ghana, which has 29 million inhabitants, the cocoa trade is an important business: it employs about 800,000 families, according to the National Cocoa Council (Cocobod), and contributes significantly to the state budget.

- Search for the "fair price" -

"Our governments have agreed to provide farmers with a fair share of the wealth produced by the industry," said Mahamudu Bawumia, Ghana's Vice President, after a meeting with farmers, merchants and industrialists in Accra in mid-June.

"A fair price of cocoa beans would be a great help to support government investments in rural infrastructure, and to improve living conditions," he added.

But farmers are not the only ones involved in these price discussions.

In a country where only two companies produce chocolate, the last few years have seen the rise of new chocolatiers and other cocoa entrepreneurs. And they too have an interest in the price of the bean.

And a rise in prices is fearing a slowdown in activity, says Chef Selassie Atadika, head of the Midunu, an artisanal chocolate company, which hopes that "a minimum price will help producers." But also that it will not have too much impact on manufacturers like her.

"The problems remain," adds the businesswoman, "and even if the price of cocoa beans does not change - the price of sugar, milk powder, and electricity play a huge role in the ability chocolatier to make chocolate ".

- Chocolate cocoa -

The national cocoa council told AFP that a subsidy exists for local manufacturers who use the beans of the second harvest of the year - smaller - while the first part in the international markets.

"What would have a real impact on local manufacturers," said Kristy Leissle, cocoa specialist, "it would be a relaxation of regulation on the sale and purchase of the main crop, it would open new opportunities" at the national level .

A long-term solution for both farmers and manufacturers could be, hopefully several interlocutors, to transform the raw material right here on Ghanaian soil.

"As long as we are not able to produce the finished product, we will not be in the best position," says Chef Selassie Atadika. "We need to add value to Ghana so we can send the best products from here."

Ruth Amoah, who makes high-quality chocolate for a hand-picked clientele, does not say the opposite, and is pleased with the announced rise in cocoa prices, proof of her country's strength.

"If you produce the best cocoa," she says, "you should also produce the best chocolate."

? 2019 AFP