Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have agreed to harmonise their cocoa farm-gate pricing policies in a major move aimed at improving farmer incomes, strengthening market stability, and deepening cooperation between the world’s two largest cocoa-producing nations.

The agreement was announced in a Joint Declaration issued by President John Mahama and President Alassane Ouattara following the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana High-Level Summit on the Future of the Cocoa Economy held in Abidjan on Tuesday.

The two leaders noted that Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire together account for about 60% of global cocoa production, giving them a critical role in shaping the industry's future and improving the livelihoods of millions of cocoa farmers.

Under the agreement, both countries pledged to align their farm-gate pricing policies to enhance producer earnings, reduce market distortions, and strengthen commercial cooperation. The initiative will include closer market coordination, the alignment of cocoa premiums, and the harmonisation of crop-season calendars.

The move is expected to curb cross-border competition and smuggling while improving the two countries' bargaining power in the global cocoa market.

The leaders reaffirmed that fair compensation for cocoa farmers remains central to the sector's long-term sustainability and essential to promoting economic justice and social stability in cocoa-growing communities.

They also praised the progress made under the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), highlighting achievements such as the implementation of the Living Income Differential (LID), efforts to coordinate price announcements, and collaboration on cocoa traceability and sustainability standards.

Despite these gains, the declaration acknowledged that the cocoa sector continues to face major challenges, including volatile global prices, illegal mining, climate change, the growing use of cocoa substitutes, and stricter international sustainability requirements.

Beyond pricing reforms, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire agreed to intensify scientific cooperation to combat cocoa diseases, particularly the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease, and to expand cocoa processing, value addition, and local consumption of cocoa products.

In a further step toward strengthening Africa’s position in the global cocoa trade, the two countries announced plans to expand the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative to include other African cocoa-producing nations, with the aim of harmonising sector policies and enhancing the continent’s collective bargaining power.