Cocoa output is anticipated to drop under 500,000 metric tons in the 2023/2024 crop season because of the swollen-shoot disease, per the World Bank’s 8th Ghana Economic Update.
In the previous 2022/2023 crop season, cocoa production dropped to approximately 670,000 tons.
The World Bank reported that cocoa prices rose from $2.39 per kilogram in 2022 to an unprecedented $5.56 per kilogram in February 2024, and the rollover of presale contracts for unfulfilled volumes over the past two seasons complicates COCOBOD’s ability to pre-sell future production.
Additionally, COCOBOD has incurred substantial losses in recent years due to high rollover costs of outstanding cocoa bills, elevated operational expenses, fertilizer provision, and rural road development.
In the 2020/2021 crop season, Ghana achieved a record cocoa production of over one million metric tonnes.
Reuters previously reported that Ghanaian cocoa farmers anticipate an increase in the 2024/2025 season beginning in October 2024, after a significant decline in production this season pushed global cocoa prices to record highs.
This season’s poorest harvest in a decade in Ghana is attributed to severe weather conditions due to El Niño, widespread smuggling, and the swollen shoot disease.
A rise in cocoa production would benefit Ghana’s economy and alleviate the global chocolate industry’s supply constraints.