Ivory Coast Cocoa Farmers See Bumper Crop After Slow Start

This year’s cocoa harvest in top producer Ivory Coast may be starting slowly, but farmers say volumes will catch up in a few months and are forecasting another big crop to follow last season’s record.

Heavy rains in June and July caused flowers to fall off trees and while farmers have started reaping some pods, there are a lot fewer than this time last year, said Salam Pelega, the head of a cooperative in the Soubre region, one of the biggest cocoa-growing areas. However, the weather now is a “perfect” mix of rain and sun, he said. The main crop, the larger of two annual harvests, runs from October to March.