Abidjan — Ivory Coast’s cocoa regulator forecast the nation may lose 20% of its cocoa crop to smuggling during the next harvest if neighbouring Ghana refuses to cut payments to farmers after international prices fell, according to a person familiar with the matter. The prediction by Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao comes after the world’s biggest cocoa producer cut farmers’ pay by 36% to the equivalent of about 700,000 CFA francs ($1,251) per tonne in April to cope with global prices that dropped more than one-third in a year on expectations of oversupply. Ghana, the second-biggest grower, has kept farmer payments at the equivalent of 7,600 cedis ($1,708) per tonne since October and has ruled out any cuts for the main harvest that starts October. Cocoa is harvested twice a year in West Africa. The Ivorian regulator expects losses of as much as 400,000 tonnes of cocoa next season, said the person, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorised to speak publicly about the matter....
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