Ivory Coast agriculture is built on cocoa, cashew, rubber and oil palm, alongside food crops that feed a fast-growing urban market. The guides in this category look at cocoa farming and Ivory Coast cocoa productivity, Ivory Coast cashew production in the north and center, and the food crops and vegetables that offer Ivorian growers diversification, with practical advice on fertilization, irrigation and crop protection.
Related topics
Côte d'Ivoire's main export crops are cocoa, cashew, rubber, oil palm, coffee, cotton and banana. Food crops include yam, cassava, plantain, rice and maize, along with vegetables such as tomato, eggplant, okra and chili. Cocoa and coffee dominate the forest zones in the south and west, while cashew and cotton are mainly grown in the center and north.
Côte d'Ivoire has a humid tropical climate and forest soils well suited to cocoa in its southern and western regions. Production expanded over decades through smallholder farms, supported by migration into forest areas and by long-standing policies that promoted the crop. Today, millions of people depend on cocoa, and the country has an established marketing system and export infrastructure.
Cashew in Côte d'Ivoire is grown mainly by smallholders in the center and north, where the dry season suits flowering and nut drying. Trees are planted in orchards, often with food crops between the rows while they are young. Farmers collect fallen apples and nuts, separate and sun-dry the nuts, then sell raw nuts. Grafted material and pruning raise yields.
