Cocoa cooperatives in Ivory Coast work as a conduit for collective action

The cocoa cooperative system in Côte d'Ivoire works as a conduit for farmers. Instead of each farmer negotiating directly with a buyer, cooperatives use an intermediary, who represents the farmers in the cooperatives and negotiates cocoa prices for them. They also act as a conduit​ through which large companies can organise training in agricultural practices, such as new methods like pruning. Cocoa cooperatives tend to work closely with ingredients companies such as Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) to sell their produce, and organisations such as Rainforest Alliance (RA) to acquire the right certification to operate. Cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire started off small. “In Côte d’Ivoire, the first denomination of what we call today a société coopérative was a 'cooperative purpose-driven grouping' (in French, GVC) - the first step toward a co-op. This small farmer organisation was put in place as cocoa production was growing in Côte d’Ivoire, to help cocoa farmers combine their efforts by ...