Rain ends dry spell in some Ivory Coast cocoa zones

Rain fell in varying quantities in several Ivory Coast cocoa growing regions on Thursday, bringing relief to farmers who had feared weeks of dry weather in most areas would hurt the development of their crops. "It has been raining very hard since 9.30 (0930 GMT) this morning. It should help the flowering to start and will help the small buds and pods to develop," farmer Attoungbre Kouame in Daloa told Reuters.
"I'm very relieved. I was getting impatient," he said, almost shouting to be heard as the torrent pelted his tin roof.
The rainfall in the world's top cocoa producer was the first since the beginning of the year in most growing areas, which had been dry since December.
Data from the national weather service Sodexam on January 24 showed that after good rains at the end of December, none had fallen in any of the production zones it measures since the start of January, except for a small amount in the south-east.
Farmers had voiced fears that if rains did not come soon, after weeks of dry weather and desert winds, the development of the cocoa crop in the world's top producer could be harmed. Ivory Coast produced a record crop of more than 1.5 million tonnes in 2003/04, according to official figures, although that includes an estimated 150,000 tonnes smuggled to neighbouring Ghana.
Analysts have said 2004/05 output is likely to be lower, partly because of unfavourable weather at key stages of the harvest and because of instability in the country, still split in two by a civil war which broke out in September 2002.
Oumar Ouedraogo, a farmer based on the outskirts of the south-western region of Gagnoa, said there had been some rainfall in the area. "Yesterday it was overcast and there was rain about 20 km (12.5 miles) from my farm, but not here," he said.
"The weather is cloudy this morning, which could mean more rain. There are small pods developing on my farm and I just need rain for them to develop well," he said.
In other regions, farmers complained that the weather was still dry. In the southern and south-western regions of Soubre and Divo, the weather was overcast but farmers said there had been no rain lately.
In the eastern region of Abengourou near the border with Ghana, the dry Saharan wind known as the harmattan was still present and endangering the developing crop.