Abidjan, Oct 22 - Ivory Coast coffee production will fall sharply this year as growers stung by low farmgate prices last season turn to more lucrative crops or abandon their plantations entirely, farmers and exporters said on Thursday.
The gloomy outlook adds to the West African nation's other agricultural woes, including dramatic declines in cocoa output, that have put the conflict-scarred country's main economic engine at risk after years of underinvestment.
Coffee output could end up around 100,000 tonnes in the 2009-10 season, down 50 percent from last year's bumper crop of 150,000 tonnes, said a purchasing manager for one international coffee export company.
"We're waiting for a harvest that will range between 80,000 and 100,000 tonnes, no more," he said. "The planters are not getting enough money to provide for their families, let alone for taking care of their plantations," he said.
Growers said that while coffee production last year was strong, farmgate prices fell to around 125 CFA francs ($0.29) per kilgram from 500 to 600 CFA francs on average over the previous three years.
"The 2008-09 season was a catastrophe," said Joseph Amani, a coffee grower near Abengourou in Ivory Coast's eastern region.
"I still have 3.5 tonnes of coffee from last season that I couldn't sell because the price was so low and the merchants had very little interest. It is the same case for many other growers," he added.
Numerous farms in the coffee growing regions of Aboisso and Abengourou were converted earlier this year into rubber or cocoa plantations due to the poor returns offered by the coffee business, farmers said.
"Many planters have abandoned their fields because of last season's low prices," said Mamadou Kone, who farms near Duekoue. "If the farmgate price is poor, the fields will be lost to the bush because no one wants to pick for fear of losing money."
The shrinking interest in coffee among growers threatens a rejuvination in the sector that was taking root over the past several years due to a recovery in world coffee prices.
It also comes as Ivory Coast faces declines in its cocoa industry. The top world cocoa producer recently closed the book on its worst harvest in at least five years with the sector expecting an even smaller crop this season.
The year-long coffee season in Ivory Coast starts slowly from mid-October and ramps up after December, with official marketing kicking off in January.
In western regions of Man and Bangolo, where the bulk of Ivory Coast's coffee is produced, farmers said weather was favorable for growing so far but that some of the beans will stay in the trees if prices don't improve.
"There are lots of coffee beans on the trees because the rain has been good. If the buyers are willing to pay at least 350 CFA per kilogram we can sell them. If not, people will be discouraged the the coffee will stay in the bush," said Brahima Fofana, a farmer near Man.
($1=439.2 Cfa Franc)