By May Angel
LONDON (Reuters) - Ecuador is on course to produce more than 650,000 metric tons of cocoa in the upcoming 2025/26 season and could surpass Ghana as the world's second largest grower of the chocolate ingredient, the chairman of the country's cocoa exporters association said.
Anecacao's Ivan Ontaneda told Reuters via email that thanks to soaring world cocoa prices, farmers - backed by the public and private sector - are investing more and more in their plots and getting increased yields.
A Reuters poll released earlier this month forecast that Ghana, which is battling illegal gold mining on cocoa farms and struggling to rein in the spread of swollen shoot disease, will produce just 600,000 tons of cocoa in 2025/26.
Cocoa prices more than doubled last year, reaching record highs above $12,000 a ton following failed harvests and disease in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which produce about half of the world's cocoa.
Prices have fallen by about a third this year, but remain at historically elevated levels.
Farmers in Ecuador get around 90% of the world price, according to Ontaneda. In Ivory Coast and Ghana, by contrast, farmers receive about 60-70% of the world price at best.
"Ecuador’s production has shown steady growth (for) years. Ghana's production has been volatile," said Ontaneda.
Cocoa in Ecuador is grown in agroforestry systems that support biodiversity and are crucial to preventing the spread of disease common in monoculture farming, as seen in West Africa.
These systems include growing cocoa alongside shade trees, plantains, coffee and fruit trees.
Cocoa farms in Ecuador are currently yielding an annual 800 kilograms per hectare, Ontaneda noted, adding the country produced more than 570,000 tons in the 2024/25 season and expects to reach 800,000 tons by the end of the decade.
The average cocoa yield in West African countries, including Ghana, is just under 500 kilograms per hectare, according to industry data.
(Reporting by May Angel; Editing by Nigel Hunt and Eileen Soreng)
