{"id":13288,"date":"2025-09-23T14:14:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=13288"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:14:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:14:27","slug":"ecuador-on-track-to-overtake-ghana-as-worlds-second-largest-cocoa-producer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=13288","title":{"rendered":"Ecuador on track to overtake Ghana as world\u2019s second-largest cocoa producer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"166\" data-end=\"382\">Ecuador is on course to produce more than\u00a0<strong data-start=\"208\" data-end=\"262\">650,000 metric tons of cocoa in the 2026\/27 season<\/strong>, a development that could see the South American country overtake Ghana as the world\u2019s second-largest cocoa producer.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"384\" data-end=\"657\">According to\u00a0<strong data-start=\"397\" data-end=\"414\">Iv\u00e1n Ontaneda<\/strong>, chairman of Ecuador\u2019s cocoa exporters\u2019 association (Anecacao), the country\u2019s output has been growing steadily, supported by heavy investments from both the public and private sectors as farmers take advantage of soaring world cocoa prices.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"659\" data-end=\"779\">\u201cEcuador\u2019s production has shown steady growth for years. Ghana\u2019s production has been volatile,\u201d Ontaneda told Reuters.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"781\" data-end=\"1005\">Global cocoa prices more than doubled last year, reaching record highs above\u00a0<strong data-start=\"858\" data-end=\"877\">$12,000 per ton<\/strong>\u00a0after poor harvests and widespread disease hit Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together produce about half of the world\u2019s cocoa.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1007\" data-end=\"1311\">Although prices have since dropped by about a third, they remain historically high, creating incentives for farmers in Ecuador to expand cultivation and boost yields. Farmers there currently receive around\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1213\" data-end=\"1246\">90% of the world market price<\/strong>, while producers in Ghana and Ivory Coast get only\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1298\" data-end=\"1308\">60-70%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1313\" data-end=\"1643\">Industry data shows Ecuadorian cocoa farms yield an average of\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1376\" data-end=\"1405\">800 kilograms per hectare<\/strong>, compared with just under\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1432\" data-end=\"1461\">500 kilograms per hectare<\/strong>\u00a0in Ghana and other West African countries. Ontaneda projects Ecuador will produce more than\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1554\" data-end=\"1581\">570,000 tons in 2025\/26<\/strong>, and could reach\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1599\" data-end=\"1640\">800,000 tons by the end of the decade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1645\" data-end=\"1936\">Ghana, however, is forecast to produce about\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1690\" data-end=\"1728\">600,000 tons in the 2025\/26 season<\/strong>, according to a recent Reuters poll. The country\u2019s cocoa sector is struggling with challenges including\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1833\" data-end=\"1871\">illegal gold mining on cocoa farms<\/strong>\u00a0and the rapid spread of\u00a0<strong data-start=\"1896\" data-end=\"1933\">cocoa swollen shoot virus disease<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1938\" data-end=\"2219\">Unlike the monoculture farming systems prevalent in West Africa, Ecuador\u2019s cocoa is grown in\u00a0<strong data-start=\"2031\" data-end=\"2055\">agroforestry systems<\/strong>\u00a0that combine cocoa with shade trees, plantain, coffee, and fruit trees. These systems not only enhance biodiversity but also help prevent the spread of diseases.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1938\" data-end=\"2219\">If current trends continue, Ecuador could firmly establish itself ahead of Ghana in the global cocoa rankings, with only Ivory Coast maintaining its lead as the world\u2019s largest producer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ecuador is on course to produce more than\u00a0650,000 metric tons of cocoa in the 2026\/27 season, a development that could see the South American country overtake Ghana as the world\u2019s second-largest cocoa producer. According to\u00a0Iv\u00e1n Ontaneda, chairman of Ecuador\u2019s cocoa exporters\u2019 association (Anecacao), the country\u2019s output has been growing steadily, supported by heavy investments from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,3788,41],"tags":[2654,4095,149],"class_list":["post-13288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","category-agriculture","category-general-news","tag-cocoa","tag-ecuador","tag-ghana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13290,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13288\/revisions\/13290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}