ABIDJAN -- Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, has fallen victim to its own overproduction which has caused global prices to plummet and now threatens its current harvest.

The West African country accounting for some 40 percent of the world's cocoa had sent markets in a tizzy when a rebellion broke out last September slicing the nation in half.

The slow road back to normalcy, with rebels joining a new unity government, improved prospects for cocoa farmers.

Meanwhile, the government fixed the minimum price for cocoa at 625 CFA Francs (0.95 euro) per kilogram, foreseeing an output of about a million tons in the 2002-2003 season.

But cocoa farmers are now saddled with a surplus of at least 100,000 tons -- which has led to a 30-percent fall in prices over the last three months, AFP reported.

Last week, cocoa prices in the London market fell to the lowest level for 18 months.

Consequently, the minimum price for cocoa fixed by Ivorian authorities is now far too high.

The current cocoa season, called the "small" harvest, is expected to yield about 75,000 tons.

According to an official at the coffee and cocoa exchange (BCC), buyers were now holding back, deeming the price fixed by the BCC not lucrative enough.

This would also effect the quality of cocoa, he said.

"Much of the cocoa has remained in the bush. Farmers have hardly sold anything from the current harvest and they fear that the quality of the bean will be affected as the rainy season is just days away," said Mathurin Kouame Kouassi, a cocoa buyer based in the western town of Divo.

To rectify this situation, the National Association of Coffee and Cocoa Producers in Ivory Coast (ANAPROCI) is trying to get a state-run watchdog called FRC to compensate the farmers for their loss.

It argues that the watchdog, formed two years ago, has never intervened. Officials estimate that the FRC has in its coffers between 30 billion and 70 billion CFA francs expressly to offset situations such as the current one.

The cocoa farmers say a total payment of about 11 billion CFA francs will make up their losses.

The FRC retains a fraction of the money from each kilogram of cocoa sold by farmers. An FRC official agreed that the crisis had "penalized everybody," adding: "We must find a solution quickly."

Meanwhile, the political unrest is also expected to have a longer-term impact on Ivorian cocoa production.

Ivorian cocoa beans grow on trees which are as much as 20 years old and in need of fertilizer and pesticides to flourish, analysts say.

But the eight-month conflict, which now appears to be ending, meant that many growers had not invested enough in the maintenance of the plantations, preferring to keep their money to buy food and clothes, the prices of which have been driven up by the crisis.