The Cocoa and Coffee Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COCEFAAA) has unveiled a three year strategic plan aimed at transforming the cocoa and coffee sectors across the continent and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.
The alliance said the roadmap is designed to engage key stakeholders, including governments, industry operators and local communities, in efforts to address long standing challenges that have limited growth and value creation in both sectors.
COCEFAAA recently emerged from the expansion of the Cocoa Farmers Alliance Association of Africa, following a decision taken on March 24 to incorporate coffee producers into a unified continental body. The restructuring is expected to strengthen collaboration across West, Central and East Africa.
Speaking on the initiative, the Global President of the organisation, Comrade Adeola Adegoke, identified low productivity, poor post harvest handling, and limited access to improved crop varieties as major constraints affecting farmers. He also pointed to weak processing capacity as a key factor behind the low earnings recorded across the value chain.
According to him, these gaps have contributed to the continued export of raw commodities, limiting income generation and keeping many farmers below the poverty line, with daily earnings often under one dollar.
He noted that although Africa accounts for about seventy percent of global cocoa production, the continent captures only a small share of the total market value. Major producers such as Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon continue to export largely unprocessed beans, leaving most of the profits to foreign processors and manufacturers.
Adegoke explained that while the global chocolate market is valued at over one hundred and twenty billion dollars annually, Africa earns roughly ten billion dollars from cocoa exports, underscoring the need for increased local processing and value addition.
He, however, acknowledged growing efforts by some countries to change this trend. Côte d’Ivoire has significantly increased its local grinding capacity, while Ghana is pushing to process up to half of its cocoa production domestically and improve traceability to meet global standards.
The three year plan, he said, will focus on boosting productivity, encouraging agroforestry practices, strengthening cooperative systems, and attracting investment into local processing. It also prioritises infrastructure development, policy support and improved access to markets for farmers.
In the coffee sector, the alliance aims to support Africa’s target of increasing its share of the global market by 2030, while promoting consumption within the continent and expanding trade among African countries such as Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria.
Through these measures, COCEFAAA seeks to reposition Africa from a major producer of raw commodities to a stronger player in the global cocoa and coffee value chain.
