The Decent Income Differential (Drd) accepted by Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, to guarantee a decent income to producers in the cocoa sector, will be maintained and cannot obey external decisions. It is in a way the intransigence displayed by the Coffee-Cocoa Council of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana Cocoa Board, the two major world cocoa producers, following the declaration of Abidjan.

This decision, included in the "Declaration of Abidjan" which requires the amount of 400 USD per ton of Drd and which seems to be poorly appreciated by certain chocolate manufacturers, will be accompanied by another measure relating to the establishment in Ghana of the headquarters of the Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana Cocoa Initiative.

At the end of a recent meeting between the two major producers in Accra, in November, the two countries reflected on the establishment of a mechanism capable of strengthening the cocoa trade policy and institutionalizing the Drd in all these forms. The Director General of the Coffee-Cocoa Board, Koné Brahima Yves, and his counterpart Joseph Boahen Aidoo of Ghana cocoa board, have also noted with satisfaction the increase in prices to producers in the two countries, adequately. "All of the Drd was paid directly to cocoa farmers," read a statement released over the weekend.

It should be remembered that Côte d'Ivoire is the leading cocoa producer with a rate of 40%. It represents with Ghana, 60% of the global supply.