Madagascar: cocoa producers enjoy prices now higher than those of vanilla

In Madagascar, the rise in world cocoa prices benefits local producers who see the value of their products now higher than that of vanilla. Explanations.

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Cocoa beans on a farm in Madagascar. AFP - GIANLUIGI GUERCIA

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With our correspondent in Antananarivo,

Sarah Tétaud

Never before seen: in

Madagascar

, cocoa now sells for more than vanilla. A situation caused by the global situation: on the international cocoa market, for a year, price records have been broken every day. A situation partly explained by a drop of around 10% in global production for the current year.

“Little Thumb”

The brown bean is now trading above $7,000 per tonne. An increase in price which is reflected differently among producers depending on the country. On the Big Island, farmers are doing well.

With its 15,000 tonnes exported per year, Madagascar stands out as a “little thumb” among the giants of the sector such as Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon, which alone supply three-fifths of the world market with their three million tonnes of cocoa produced.

Read alsoChronicle of raw materials - Cocoa, the meteoric rise in prices continues against a backdrop of a sluggish harvest

But, in Madagascar: we rub our hands. Farmers have never earned such a good income from this crop, comments Philippe Fontayne, vice-president of the National Cocoa Council: “

Today, the commercial policy practiced by countries is very different. In West Africa, you have a so-called

"farm edge" pricing policy which is guaranteed to farmers and which is today set at 1,000 CFA francs, or roughly 1.5 dollars. While in Madagascar, the liberal pricing policy allows the producer to receive nearly 3,000

CFA francs or 5 dollars per kilo of dry cocoa beans.

»

A nice development for the planters who today pocket 24,000 ariary per kilo – or around 4.9 euros – when they sold only 3,000 in 2017: around 0.91 euro cents.

“Fine cocoa”

“

For the exclusive benefit of the Malagasy farmer

,” emphasizes Philippe Fontayne. “

And this, at the level of the National Cocoa Council, we can only welcome it, because improving the farmer's income is at the heart of our policy. Now, the risk is that this rise in cocoa prices will lead to a drop in global consumption of chocolate. And to anticipate the risks of this drop in consumption at the global level, and therefore a drop in remuneration for our Malagasy producers, we must maintain our objective: achieving 100% sustainable cocoa for 100% fine cocoa.

»

To date, the Big Island is the only country in Africa to have all of its production labeled “fine cocoa”. A real pride.

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