More than 300,000 cocoa farmers across Ghana are protesting the government’s newly announced farmgate price of 51,660 GHS per tonne (3,228 GHS per 64 kg bag), representing just a 4% increase over last season . This falls significantly short of the previously promised 70% of the free-on-board international price, which would equate to approximately 3,800 GHS per bag.
Producers fear they’ll be underpaid amid escalating costs for fertilizers and insecticides—some now costing 150 GHS each—and have warned they may bar COCOBOD officers from their farms or smuggle harvests into neighboring Ivory Coast and Togo, where cocoa commands 700 GHS more per bag . COCOBOD estimates that Ghana lost around 160,000 tonnes of cocoa to smuggling during the 2023/24 season.
The standoff threatens to disrupt agricultural extension services vital to farm productivity. With tensions rising, the government faces mounting pressure to intervene and protect the interests of its cocoa backbone—or risk seeing the nation’s most important export slip through porous borders.
Discover more from Ghana Media
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
