Processing a larger share of beans locally would lead to higher incomes for farmers, additional employment, and an increase in export revenues (53).

Investing in value-adding cocoa production through local processing can significantly boost the nation's GDP and reduce its reliance on raw commodity exports (52).

Processing commodities, notably cocoa, generates new jobs, more profits and higher incomes than sole production. This also translates into better nutrition (53).

Local processing of cocoa products can reduce waste associated with improper storage and transportation. Cocoa farmers may also use parts of the cocoa plant that they would usually discard, making drinks from the cocoa fruit, for instance, partnering with biomass plants, or converting cocoa shells into biofertilizers (54).

Local cocoa processing can generate waste and by-products that, if not managed properly, may cause environmental harm. For instance, waste from cocoa bean shells or the use of energy-intensive processing methods could result in pollution or resource depletion,

If the establishment of processing units is not associated with further traceability, gender inequalities in cocoa production and child labor may endure.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization risk: If the benefits of cocoa processing, such as job creation and income, are concentrated by large-scale farmers, rural smallholder farmers may not benefit significantly.

Add economic value by creating jobs, reduce export reliance on raw beans, retain more income within the country, and benefit farmers, processors, and the national GDP.

The National Agricultural Investment Program II (Programme National d'Investissement Agricole or PNIA II) seeks to elevate agriculture as a key economic driver in Côte d'Ivoire with 9% of its GDP, targeting an overall growth in the primary sector of 9% a year. It aims to enhance local processing of key crops, especially cocoa. Cocoa production and processing is described as strongly correlated with agricultural revenue and employment (8).

Côte d'Ivoire's Nationally Determined Contributions describes the growth of agro-industry and crop processing as instrumental for Côte d'Ivoire's economic development (14, 17).

The National Development Plan (2021-2025) aims to increase cocoa production and processing, promote sustainability and stabilize producers' incomes (12, 17).

The 2023 annual review of the National Development Plan outlines key progress in the cocoa processing sector. It attributes increases in the share of cocoa transformed to public support, including the signing of seven agreements with processors to increase grinding volumes, with a commitment to process 750,000 tons (17).

Financial incentives: Côte d'Ivoire set up a support fund for investment in the cocoa processing sector, with a 10 billion FCFA budget (USD 16.5 million). On April 22, 2020, the government announced a four-year subsidy of 35 CFA francs (USD 0.06) per kilogram to support national cocoa exporters' competitiveness (20, 33).

Fiscal incentives: In 2017, the Ivorian government established a Unique Export Levy (DUS) differentiated by the nature and degree of processing of cocoa. It has a rate of 14.6% for beans, 9.6% for the powder, and 0% for the chocolate, incentivizing local transformation (20).

Fiscal incentives: To support local processing, Côte d'Ivoire introduced a 0% tax rate on transformation activities for the first five years, followed by a 50% reduction in the standard rate for the next five years (34, 35).

Other incentives: In 2024, a 38 billion FCFA loan was allocated by the ECOWAS Investment and Development Bank and Coris Bank International to fund a cocoa processing plant in San Pedro, operated by Atlantic Cocoa Corporation Côte d'Ivoire (50).

Decree No. 2012-1008 outlines the rules regarding the commercialization of coffee and cocoa. It reformed the "Conseil Café-Cacao", the main regulatory body for cocoa production in the country. The entity is in charge of regulating the industry, stabilizing the prices, and sets for two years the price received by cocoa farmers, to ensure that they receive a fair revenue, ultimately impacting cocoa purchase prices for cocoa processing factories (29, 36, 39).

The 2019 headquarters agreement of the Côte d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (ICCIG) established a price-fixing mechanism for cocoa. It creates a "Living income differential" of USD 400 per tonne in addition to market price to address income disparities for cocoa farmers. This leads to higher prices for cocoa processing factories, but the impact is uniformly distributed between local and foreign processing factories as it applies to all cocoa produced in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire (21, 40).

Decree No. 2012-1011 sets regulations for cocoa exports from Côte d'Ivoire, defining quality standards, acceptable defect levels, and classifying cocoa into grades. It also mandates quality control and phytosanitary treatment before export (30).

A decree establishing a "national coffee-cocoa traceability system" was adopted by the Council of Ministers in September 2023. It will allow computer-based checks of origins and respects of regulations. This will benefit companies operating in the cocoa transformation sector by facilitating compliance with regulations, crucial for exports (25).

Cargill, Nestlé, Barry Callebaut, Cémoi, Tafissa, Ivory Cocoa Product, CITRAC, Usinage de produits agricoles (UPACI), Société d'usinage de Vridi, ASTENN, GCB Cocoa, Confédération Générale des Entreprises de Côte d’Ivoire (CGECI) (57, 58, 59, 60).

Ministère de l'agriculture, Fonds Interprofessionnel pour la Recherche et le Conseil Agricoles (FIRCA), Côte d'Ivoire - Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI), Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI).

European Union (EU), World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), African Development Bank (AfDB).

Solidaridad, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade International.

The autonomous district of Abidjan is a strategic area for cocoa processing, with the establishment of new factories in 2024 and the presence of long-standing actors such as Barry Callebaut. It boasts high connectivity through its port and international airport (45, 49).

Bas-Sassandra is the district with the highest proportion of cocoa fields, representing 30% of the region's total area. It is considered a priority region for developing cocoa processing, and welcomes foreign investment in cocoa processing due to San Pedro's strategic location (24, 46, 49).

4 to 6% of the total area of the Montagnes district is dedicated to cocoa production, it is one of the country's leading regions for cocoa. Nevertheless, the processing capacity remains underdeveloped in the district, indicating expansion potential (24, 47).

5 to 12% of the district's area is occupied by cocoa plantations, making it the country's second region in production surface and output. Daloa also attracts investment into cocoa processing with the establishment of local cooperatives such as the Société coopérative Sabari Kagny du Haut Sassandra, which has received an international award for the quality of its transformed product. Nevertheless, local transformation capacity remains far below cocoa production (24, 48).

The Comoé district is among the largest producing in Cote d'Ivoire, with 35,343 tons produced in sud-Comoé in 2022. The government and local authorities are actively promoting local processing (from 3,000 tons to 30,000 tons) in the district (56).