It’s Woefully Inadequate – Cocoa Farmers Lament Recent Price Increase

The Ghana National Association of Cocoa Farmers (GNACOF) has insisted that the 64 percent increase in the producer price of cocoa announced by the government is woefully inadequate.

The association contends that farmers will likely continue to smuggle cocoa to Ivory Coast, where prices are higher.

GNACOF President Stephenson Anane Boateng indicated that the government must do more to discourage smuggling, a major problem in the cocoa sector.

“The price in Ivory Coast is GH¢1,450 per bag, and if our government increases our cocoa price to GH¢1,308, then we are nowhere; people will continue to smuggle their cocoa just because the price compared to even the previous one is not up to their level,” Mr Boateng stressed.

The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, disclosed that between 100,000 and 200,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans have been smuggled out of Ghana to the neighbouring countries from January to date this year.

The COCOBOD boss said that smuggling cocoa beans from Ghana to neighbouring countries, such as Togo and La Cote d’Ivoire, negatively affects the Ghanaian economy.

Mr Boateng vehemently stated that cocoa farmers no longer trust politicians to deliver on their promises.

“We, as cocoa farmers, no longer trust any politician,” he said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced the 63.6% increase in the farm gate price of cocoa beans on September 9, from GH₵800 to GH₵1,308 per bag for the new cocoa season.

The increase came after cocoa farmers intensified calls for an upward review of cocoa prices to prevent the prevalence of smuggling and the situation where cocoa farmers give out their lands to illegal miners.

However, Mr Boateng said the government’s latest increase was insufficient to discourage smuggling.

He called on the government to do more to address the root causes of smuggling, such as poverty and lack of access to affordable credit for cocoa farmers.

Former president John Mahama and the minority in parliament have described the increment as ‘paltry’ and a rip-off of hard-working cocoa farmers.

The minority has called for the resignation of the COCOBOD boss.