Ivory Coast and Ghana suspend sales of cocoa

The world's top two producers of cocoa have said they won’t sell for less than $2,600 a tonne - that's just over €2,000.

Governments from the Ivory Coast and Ghana have said they will suspend their sales for better prices.

The two governments hope to address the imbalance between farmers' income and money made by large commodity merchants.

Producers and traders agreed on this course of action as the majority of money does not reach the farmers who live in poverty.

According to the International Cocoa Organisation, the prices are structurally too low.

Globally, 4.55 million tonnes of "brown gold" was produced in 2016, where 85% of the market is controlled by companies such as Kraft, Mars, and Nestlé.

The two West African nations account for nearly two-thirds of the world's output

A meeting in the Ivory Coast, in Abidjan on 3 July, will discuss how to implement this measure for the next two years crops.