Unsold bags of cocoa beans are stacked almost to the ceiling in Sekou Dagnogo's warehouse in the western Duekoue town of the Ivory Coast, where his cooperative is struggling to sell to exporters following a fall in global cocoa prices.

Exporters have been refusing to pay the guaranteed 2,800 CFA francs ($5.09) per kg farmgate price set by the government at the start of the 2025/26 crop season, according to cooperatives.

The exporters say the slump in global prices, which hit their lowest levels in more than two years last week due to falling demand, has made cocoa from the world's largest producer too expensive.

Dagnogo said he relies on export sales to pay farmers, but unsold stock is piling up and debts are accumulating.

"Things haven't been going well for quite some time now, so everything is at a standstill for the moment, and we currently owe farmers a lot of money," he told Reuters during a recent trip to Duekoue.

Dagnogo hopes the Coffee and Cocoa Council regulator will step in to purchase the unsold bags.

In January, the regulator launched a programme to purchase 100,000 metric tons of cocoa beans that had been held for weeks, and was forced to accelerate purchases earlier this month due to concerns about the declining quality of inventories stored in poor conditions.

"They have assured us that they will buy back the product," Dagnogo said.

NO PRICE OPTIONS FOR FARMERS

Farmer Frederic Kouassi Kouassi told Reuters that some buyers were offering prices as low as 1,500 CFA francs or 1,800 CFA francs per kg, which is prohibited by the regulator.

"They offer us a choice that doesn't suit us, and due to a lack of resources, we are forced to accept these prices," Kouassi Kouassi said as he harvested yellow pods with a machete at his farm in the small western village of Remikro.

He stores bags of beans in his house but is worried about accumulating too many before the start of the April-to-September mid-crop.

"If someone comes and offers you at least 500 CFA francs to sell what's there, since the trees are still alive, you accept and never get discouraged," Kouassi Kouassi said.