Reuters
Farmers who grow about 40% of the world's cocoa are earning record prices for their crops and could raise output significantly as early as next season, a leading cocoa expert said on the sidelines of the World Cocoa Conference in Brussels. Tropical Research Services’ Steve Wateridge said farmers outside top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana now have more than enough funds to fertilise and spray their trees with pesticide, as well as to prune. He noted that farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana, who together produce about 60% of the world’s cocoa, have yet to benefit in full from record global prices because of how their governments buy, sell and set farmgate prices.