Institutionalize upward mid-term cocoa farmgate price revision to curb smuggling — GCCP urges gov’t

The Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform (GCCP) has urged the government to institutionalize mid-season reviews of cocoa farmgate prices in Ghana to curb the smuggling of the beans across borders.

At a press conference in Accra on Monday, September 2, Mr. Teinor Francis, a cocoa farmer from Suhum addressing journalists said cocoa market prices often surge mid-season on the international market.

However, Ghanaian farmers are unable to benefit from these price increases due to COCOBOD's policy of bulk forward sales of cocoa.

The group noted that "systemic cocoa marketing flaws, such as forward sales of beans, over-bloated COCOBOD administrative and overhead costs have prevented farmers from realizing the full benefits of their work.”

“Moving forward, it is crucial that pricing strategies and support systems be realigned to ensure that farmers are fairly compensated for their hard work,” they advocated.

Mr. Francis further stated that "to ensure that the Ghanaian cocoa farmer remains motivated and competitive in the sub-region, we propose that government institutionalize the upward mid-term revision of farm-gate prices due to the volatile nature of our currency and to also minimize cross-border smuggling of cocoa beans mid season."

The GCCP is also calling on the Ghana Cocoa Board to set the minimum farm-gate price for the 2024/2025 cocoa season at not less than GH¢3,583 per bag of 64kg cocoa beans from the current GH¢2,070.

"With the understanding that most contracts for the 2024/2025 harvest was entered based on 2023/2024 market prices, which averaged around $6,104.33 per tonne throughout the season, and with the working assumption that farmers shall receive minimum 60% of gross Free on Board (FoB) price; we expect that the farm-gate price should be set at a minimum of $3,662.60 per tonne," said GCCP.