A week of hot conditions and intense dry winds across Ivory Coast cocoa-growing regions risks hindering the development of the upcoming mid-crop harvest and has prompted fears of bush fires, farmers said on Monday. Ivory Coast is in the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March. While intermittent showers are needed to help the development of the April-to-September mid-crop, farmers said no rain had fallen in any of the top producer's cocoa-growing areas last week.
In the western region of Soubre, in the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said the dry, dusty Harmattan winds that blow from the Sahara desert, and which have relented little since their arrival in late November, were hindering crop development. "Everything is dry. There is a danger for the cocoa because there are no longer any flowers or small pods on the trees," Soubre farmer Lazare Ake said. "We're afraid there will be a poor start and low-quality beans for the mid-crop."
In the southern region of Divo, farmers also said the dry conditions were harming the trees. "The soil is very dry. If there is no rain, there will be no mid-crop in this region," said Amadou Diallo, who farms near Divo. The centre-western region Daloa, which produces a quarter of Ivory Coast's national output, saw similar conditions.
"There's no rain. The trees have nearly lost all their leaves," farmer Gervais Kobenan said. "We worry that the dry weather could lead to bush fires that could destroy plantations. The local radio is warning people about this." A strong Harmattan phenomenon and dry conditions were also reported in the southern region of Aboisso and in the western regions of Duekoue and Gagnoa.