• Côte d’Ivoire set become world’s third-largest rubber producer
• Plans add 500,000 hectares by 2036
• Rubber export revenue rose to 1.49 trillion CFA francs

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) said in its latest global market outlook that Côte d'Ivoire is poised to become the world’s third-largest producer of natural rubber, overtaking Vietnam to rank behind Thailand and Indonesia. The shift would be driven by continued expansion of planted areas and strong productivity among smallholder farmers.

The industry plans to bring 500,000 additional hectares into production by 2036, in addition to the approximately 722,000 hectares currently under cultivation.

The announcement underscores the strong growth of Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber sector over the past decade. Though less prominent than cocoa, rubber has been the strongest-performing agricultural export in terms of revenue over this period.

While cocoa and cashews posted volatile revenue growth between 2015 and 2024, rubber recorded uninterrupted expansion. Export earnings rose from 296.3 billion CFA francs (about $533.9 million) to 1,489.9 billion CFA francs (around $2.7 billion). The main export markets were China, India, Malaysia and the United States.

Rubber now generates three times more revenue than cashews, which led at the start of the decade, and ranks as the country’s second-largest export earner after cocoa. Growth has been supported by a fourfold increase in export volumes, from roughly 410,000 tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes, reflecting strong global demand from the tire industry.

Production is largely driven by smallholder farmers and has expanded across several forest regions. The crop provides an alternative to cocoa and offers more regular income through year-round tapping.

In WAEMU’s largest agricultural economy, the priority is now to consolidate these gains by improving plantation yields and expanding domestic value addition. Developing downstream processing, including tire manufacturing and technical and molded rubber products, represents the next phase of growth.

Espoir Olodo