West African Cocoa Farmers Turn to Mining as Bean Prices Collapse

Cocoa farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast are abandoning their crops and turning to illegal mining after cocoa prices crashed from $12,000 to $4,000 per metric ton. With beans rotting in warehouses and farmers unpaid for months, many are leasing land to sand and gold miners despite making the soil infertile.

KONA, Ghana (AP) — For 52-year-old Manu Yaw Fofie, inheriting his family’s cocoa farm has turned from a gift into a financial nightmare. After cocoa prices plummeted dramatically over the last year, the Ghanaian farmer has made a drastic decision: allowing illegal sand miners to operate on portions of his property for payment, even though the mining will permanently damage the soil.

The collapse in cocoa values has created a devastating paradox across West Africa — while chocolate companies struggle to find adequate supplies and consumers continue craving their favorite treats, cocoa beans are literally decomposing in storage facilities.

Fofie’s annual harvest has plunged from a peak of 300 bags to just 50 bags in 2025, hurt by climate change and other challenges. The sand mining provides desperately needed income due to booming construction demand, but comes at an irreversible environmental cost.

“The sand mining makes the land infertile,” Fofie acknowledged, but said circumstances have forced his hand.

This crisis is spreading throughout Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce almost 70% of the world’s cocoa supply. Farmers across both nations are converting their agricultural land to alternative uses as the once-profitable commodity has become financially unsustainable.

The world’s top cocoa producer, Ivory Coast, had to buy surplus beans from farmers in January and this week cut prices by more than 50% for 2026 deliveries.

Edward Karaweh, former general secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union, said Ghanaian officials were caught off guard by the severity of this market collapse.

“Preparation allows you to mitigate the crisis. It is not that you prevent the crisis altogether,” Karaweh explained.

The economic impact extends far beyond individual farmers. Cocoa exports represent 40% of Ivory Coast’s total export earnings and nearly 15% of Ghana’s. Hundreds of thousands of West African families depend on cocoa cultivation for their survival.

Both governments typically establish fixed cocoa prices at planting season’s start, with most beans sold through licensed government intermediaries to shield farmers from international market volatility.

However, the recent price swings have been extreme. Cocoa futures soared above $12,000 per metric ton in 2024 — the highest level in decades — before crashing to approximately $4,000 as oversupply met weakening demand.

This dramatic decline means international traders would lose money purchasing beans from the African nations, creating massive stockpiles of deteriorating cocoa in warehouses while farmers who already delivered their crops to governments remain unpaid for months.

Due to structural problems, farmers say they never benefited from the initial price spike, and the subsequent crash has pushed many to abandon cocoa entirely.

In Ivory Coast, farmer François N’Gbin surveyed his cocoa trees, pointing to blackened, withered pods damaged by disease and drought. Like Fofie, he has allowed illegal gold miners onto his property for fees, then secured a mining permit to avoid legal trouble.

The mining operation, marked by murky, yellowish water, now spans at least 1,000 square meters of his farm.

“Today, gold is more profitable than cocoa,” N’Gbin stated. “We get 1,500 CFA francs ($2.67) per gram of gold, and we’re about to negotiate an increase.”

According to Moussa Koné, president of the Ivorian cocoa farmers’ union, numerous farmers are pursuing similar arrangements with illegal gold miners.

“Cocoa is not selling, but farmers still need money to feed their families,” Koné said.

Ghana has begun relaxing price control regulations, cutting its fixed cocoa price by 28% to 41,392 cedis ($3,881) per metric ton in January to attract more buyers.

This week, Ivory Coast followed suit, reducing payments to cocoa farmers by more than half to 1,200 CFA ($2.13) per kilogram for 2026.

Farmers say these price reductions leave extremely thin profit margins after accounting for production expenses.

Mercy Amponsah, a 50-year-old Ghanaian cocoa farmer, was among those who traveled to the capital city of Accra in January to protest the price cuts.

“Accepting the current price means my son will have to drop out of school,” Amponsah said.

While cocoa producers in South America and Asia have increased their output, West Africa continues to dominate global production.

For farmers like Fofie, however, finding alternative income sources has become essential for survival.

“If I keep this cocoa farm for the next 10 years, I would die a poor man,” he said.