The recent rise in cocoa farmgate price by the government has drawn criticism from the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association, who deem it insufficient.
On April 5, 2024, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) declared a 58.26 percent increase, establishing the price at GH¢33,120 cedis per ton for the 2023/2024 crop season. This adjustment aims to equitably allocate the benefits of the escalating global cocoa prices and discourage cocoa bean smuggling.
However, Stephenson Anane Boateng, President of the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association, argues that cocoa farmers are being treated unjustly.
In response to COCOBOD’s decision, Anane Boateng stated, “Cocoa has been raised globally to $10,000 per metric ton. So if you compare, and you convert to our currency, it is running into over GH¢9,000. We totally disagree with them. We pay our labour, we buy inputs for the farm, and then we also pay ourselves.”
“So in a nutshell, we get only GH¢600 for that while COCOBOD also gets GH¢7,000. So what work did COCOBOD do and give us that money? It’s an insult!” he asserted.