Cocoa price shoots to GH¢49,600 a tonne - It’s 3rd price adjustment in 9 months

The government has increased the cocoa producer price by GH¢1,600 to GH¢49,600 per tonne, marking the third price adjustment in nine months.

The new price, which took effect on November 8, represents a 3.3 per cent increase from the previous GH¢48,000 per tonne and translates to GH¢3,100 for a 64kg bag of cocoa beans.

The world market price of cocoa has witnessed the highest levels of volatility over the past 12 months. Spot prices moved from around $2,000 a tonne in March 2023 and peaked at $12,072 per tonne in February 2024 before dropping significantly to $7,960 per tonne in September 2024.  

On the futures market, where Ghana has traded for over 50 years, prices moved from $2,200 in March 2023 to over $10,000 in February 2024, before dropping significantly to $6,246 in September 2024.

The government, in response to the rising cocoa prices on the international market, increased the farmgate price by 58 per cent from GH¢20,928 per tonne to GH¢33,120 per tonne in the middle of the 2023/24 season in April this year.

And just before the start of the new season in September, the government again increased the price to GH¢48,000 per tonne, which translated into GH¢3,000 per 64kg bag.

And quite recently, the President again announced the new price adjustment, aimed to strengthen the economic position of the country's cocoa farmers while maintaining the country’s competitive edge in the global cocoa market.

The decision also underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring that the over 800,000 cocoa farmers in the country receive fair compensation and remain competitive within the global market.

COCOBOD

A release from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) said the move would boost farmer confidence, enhance income stability and strengthen the partnership between the board and the farming community.

COCOBOD emphasised its ongoing commitment to implement policies that contribute to the growth and sustainability of the cocoa industry.

Positive step

Local farmer associations have welcomed the announcement, saying it was a positive step towards improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers across the nation.

The Vice-President-elect of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers Marketing Association, Theophilus Tamakloe, said while the price increase was good news, there was a need for additional support for farmers across the country.

He called for a consistent supply of agrochemicals to help improve the yields of farmers, stating that farmers could only take advantage of the new prices if they had the beans to supply.

Mr Tamakloe said the newly formed national association for cocoa farmers, which was the first of its kind would champion the welfare of farmers across the nine cocoa-growing regions in the country.

“For a long time, cocoa farmers have relied on people to champion our cause because we did not have one voice, but with the newly formed association, we will now be able to speak for ourselves,” he stated.

Sector challenges

Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, has experienced a steady decline in cocoa production since its peak of 1.04 million tonnes in the 2020/21 season.

This has been due to a myriad of challenges such as smuggling, unfavourable weather conditions, illegal mining activities and financial challenges of the cocoa regulator.

At the start of the new season, COCOBOD had to revise its production target downwards from the initial 800,000 tonnes to 650,000 tonnes due to unfavourable weather conditions in the Bono, Ahafo and Western North regions, the key cocoa growing areas.

There has been some unusual dryness in those parts since June and this was affecting cocoa trees.

Farmers Day

Addressing the media at the prize presentation to the National Best Cocoa Farmer last Saturday in Accra, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said the board acknowledged the challenges facing the sector and was taking decisive steps to address them.

He said COCOBOD had implemented various initiatives such as hand pollination and pruning which had become game-changers in the industry.

Mr Aidoo said the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme also had helped to replace aged and diseased cocoa trees across the country.