ABIDJAN: Good levels of soil moisture from recent rain helped the development of Ivory Coast's cocoa crop last week, farmers said, though a drop in demand was forcing some to sell beans for less than the guaranteed farmgate price.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is in the dry season, which runs from mid-November to March. But unexpected rain in recent weeks has meant there were plenty of flowers and cherelles on the trees, which bode well for the April-to-September mid-crop.

"We will still have a lot of cocoa. But it's the sales that's the problem," said Kouassi Kouame, who farms near Soubre.

A drop in global demand for chocolate during the COVID-19 pandemic has hit cocoa sales from Ivory Coast.

Farmers in need of money said they were selling their beans for between 900-950 CFA francs per kilogram, below the guaranteed farmgate price of 1,000 CFA francs.

"We don't know if this is due to the holidays, but there are few buyers," said Gervais N'Guessan who farms in the centre-western region of Daloa.

No rain fell across most of the cocoa belt last week but farmers said the foliage was green and many predicted a bigger mid-crop than last year.

In the western region of Soubre, the only region with rain, 1.5 mm fell, 2.9 mm below the average.

Last week's average daily temperatures ranged from 25.7 to 29.1 degrees Celsius.