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Cocoa Sector in Côte D’ivoire: Are Public-Private Coordination Platforms Helpful?

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Name of the Asset | Cocoa Sector in Côte D’ivoire:  Are Public-Private Coordination Platforms Helpful? 
Type of Asset | Working Paper
Date | February 2019

Summary

The cocoa sector is the backbone of the Ivorian economy. It contributes to 40 percent of export revenue and about 800,000 farmers make their living directly from cocoa production. However, the sector is fraught with challenges, leading younger farmers to shift to alternative crops such as rubber. Mars Inc. initiated a cocoa sustainability program called Vision for Change (V4C), in the Nawa region in Côte d’Ivoire, in November 2010. The idea is to address issues of market uncertainty and production volatility by boosting productivity and empowering local communities.

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Vision for Change (V4C) – a private initiative implemented in coordination with the public sector – on the productivity of cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire. This paper shows that the program increases cocoa yields by up to 115 kilograms per hectare, income by up to 48% and the price of cocoa by up to 42 XOF (0.06 euros) per kg. The paper uses econometrics on primary data collected from April to May 2018 in seven regions of the country.  

The success of the project is based on a number of factors including the use of high yield and swollen shoot tolerant technology, meeting the demands of cocoa producers, and generating learning among stakeholders which reduced research and development costs. The agreements between institutions involved in the platform lead to economies of scale, helping to make the new technologies affordable to producers. In addition, policy coordination at the macro level – with the public sector and a wide range of private companies (with varied interests) – helps manage the tension between coordination and capture.

Authors | Désiré Kanga, Richard Moussa, Vassiki Sanogo
Country and/or Region | Côte D’ivoire, Africa
Name of the Program | Mobilizing Local Knowledge to Improve Competitiveness Strategies
Funder(s) |  The Competitive Industries and Innovation Program (CIIP) through the Finance Competitiveness and Innovation Global practice of the World Bank Group
 

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