Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), the world’s top cocoa producer, is facing a surge in smuggling as global cocoa prices hit historic highs – raising urgent questions about traceability, ethical sourcing, and how blockchain could offer a solution.

 

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TL;DR

  • Cocoa prices are soaring – and so is smuggling in Côte d’Ivoire

  • The untraceable flow of beans is causing ripple effects from farm to chocolate bar

  • Blockchain can provide the tools to track, verify, and secure the supply chain

  • West African entrepreneurs are uniquely placed to lead this transformation

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 Cocoa’s Smuggling Crisis

In Gbapleu, a small border town between Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, smugglers are moving cocoa beans through forest paths by night. Using motorbikes, they haul sacks – each weighing about 65kg – to avoid detection at checkpoints. Traders say this behavior has intensified in recent months, fueled by a massive price rally that saw cocoa futures nearly triple in value, touching $13,000 per tonne.

As beans vanish into neighboring countries through unofficial channels, regulators and buyers are struggling to maintain traceability across a supply chain already stretched thin by poor infrastructure and porous borders.

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As reported by BitKE in 2023, Ivory Coast is the most taxed country in Africa with an income tax of 60%. This heavy tax may also contribute to the smuggling problem as citizens evade paying tax based on documented income sources.

Ivory Coast is the Most Taxed Country in Africa, Reveals the Latest 2023 Report

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Why Traceability Matters

  • For farmers: Smuggling may offer short-term profits, but it undermines price stability and risks legal action.

  • For buyers: Illicit cocoa is harder to trace, threatening certifications like Fairtrade and complicating ESG compliance.

  • For governments: Lost taxes, enforcement costs, and damage to national reputation are becoming harder to ignore.

This smuggling surge also opens a critical opportunity for African entrepreneurs: building blockchain-based traceability systems.

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Blockchain can track cocoa from farm to port by:

  • Recording GPS-tagged harvest data at the source

  • Storing transactions on tamper-proof, decentralized ledgers

  • Using smart contracts to trigger payments once beans pass verified checkpoints

  • Ensuring buyers and regulators can audit the entire supply chain in real-time

Such tools not only provide transparency but also create incentives for smallholder farmers to stay within legal markets, knowing their produce is verifiably linked to premium buyers.

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With over 70% of global cocoa grown in West Africa, the region is uniquely positioned to become the epicenter of agri-blockchain innovation. Startups, cooperatives, and even government-backed initiatives can collaborate to build systems that don’t just fight smuggling – but also empower farmers, attract investment, and improve global market confidence in African commodities.

 

 

 

 

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