Coffee plants were introduced to the country in the 19th century by French colonizers. After World War II, coffee production increased from 36,000 tons in 1945 to 112,500 tons in 1958. After Ivory Coast became independent (in 1960), coffee production peaked in 1970, becoming the third-largest coffee-producing country in the world, after Brazil and Colombia, before the civil war, cultivation ceased. Coffee production and policy are derived from the time when Ivory Coast was a colony in French West Africa. This has attracted French companies to invest in this sector.
The country's robust green coffee production peaked at 380,000 tonnes in 2000. Production subsequently declined over a decade in the country, especially during the First Ivorian Civil War (2002-2007) and the Second Ivorian Civil War. (2010-2020). 2011). In 2014, the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture announced a new annual production target of 400,000 tonnes of coffee by 2020, about four times the current rate.