Ghanaian farmers will enjoy 63.5 percent more in the price they receive for dry cocoa beans in the 2023/2024 crop season, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced on Saturday.
“The international market is beginning to pick up and government, in keeping with our promise to our gallant farmers, has increased cocoa prices from 800 Ghana cedis(68.3 dollars) to 1,308 (114.03 U.S. dollars) per 64. Kg bag. This is 70.5 percent of the gross FOB price,” said Akufo-Addo announced this at a ceremony at Tepa, a cocoa farming community in the Ashanti Region.
The president touted the increase as the highest in the West African sub-region over the last 50 years, adding that Ghana would commence the new crop year in September, instead of the usual October,
“We know the farmers will be sending their children to school this time and it is prudent to sell cocoa to meet the expenditure than to borrow at higher interest rate when cocoa is readily available,” he added.
Akufo-Addo pledged the government’s commitment to continue to offer farmers better remunerations as the global market price is projected to remain above the 2,600-dollar threshold.
“The sustainability of the entire industry hinges on a well-remunerated producer, who is willing to invest only with the certainty that the government would pay the appropriate price,” he stated.
Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer after Cote d’Ivoire, hopes the higher returns for farmers would help curb the incidence of cocoa smuggling and the sale of cocoa farms to illegal mining operators.
Last season, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) was compelled to revise its output projections downwards to 650,000mt from the earlier 800,000mt due to the impact of smuggling and illegal mining.
Smuggling of cocoa beans to Cote d’Ivoire with better returns has become pervasive along Ghana’s western corridor.