Ivory Coast cocoa farmers suspend strike

Ivory Coast cocoa farmers' unions said on Monday they had suspended a strike over funding for co-operatives in the world's top producer and were due to talk with industry bodies from Tuesday. "Our union has suspended the strike since Saturday...because we have been approached by the representatives of the Cocoa and Coffee Bourse (BCC), (co-operative fund) FGCCC and the (regulatory body) ARCC to relaunch talks tomorrow," said Vincent Akadje, president of the Cosaci federation of farmers' unions.
"If the talks do not succeed by the end of this week, we will start the strike again next week. But for the moment and until further orders, the strike is suspended," he added.
The on-off strike has drawn only limited support from farmers since it started early in March and has failed to disrupt arrivals of cocoa beans in Abidjan and San Pedro, the two main ports in the former French colony.
The strike came as world cocoa markets fretted about a resumption of hostilities in Ivory Coast, which has been divided since a failed uprising triggered civil war in September 2002.
Rebels now hold the north while government soldiers control the south. Around 10,000 French and UN peacekeepers patrol a buffer zone between the two sides.
Rebels said last week they had put their forces on maximum alert and feared an imminent attack. A senior aide to President Laurent Gbagbo denied any attacks were planned, but army sources said their forces were also on alert.
The tensions pushed London's cocoa futures market to its highest in almost four months on Friday.
Farmers' unions are demanding the government give more loans to cash-strapped co-operatives so they can pay farmers for beans, especially at the start of the crop cycle, while waiting for exporters to reimburse them for cocoa already supplied.
"The strike has been suspended because we have talks this week with representatives of the industry and we hope our demands will be met," said Daly Koffi, secretary-general of Cosaci.
Akadje said the talks would centre on the unions' demands for 6.5 billion CFA francs ($13 million) to finance co-operatives.
"There are more than 1,000 co-operatives in Ivory Coast. Each one should benefit from this subsidy because it is our money, these are our contributions," he said.
Dakouri Zirika of the Coopad co-operative in Divo north-west of the main city Abidjan confirmed the strike's suspension.
"Our supporters have returned to their villages and are waiting for word from Cosaci officials," he said.
Farmers stopped work in October for a week at the start of the season and only resumed activity after receiving guarantees they would get funds. Unions say so far only a few co-operatives have received the promised cash.