In Ivory Coast, cocoa farmers have nobody to sell their produce to

The West African country is home to thousands of smallholder cocoa farmers, who are the backbone of the world’s largest producer of the fruit. But the country currently faces major difficulties in selling its cocoa, hit by a slowdown in exports and a drop in global prices.

Laurent Kone’s wattle-and-daub house, with its tarpaulin roof and no electricity, lies down a bumpy red-earth track in western Ivory Coast. For 30 years, he has been…