Ghana Farmers Association spokesperson Nana Aduna II has voiced strong concerns about recent developments in the cocoa sector, saying that farmers are being unfairly impacted by current policy decisions.
In an interview, Nana Aduna II questioned why cocoa farmers seem to be the only group facing the consequences, particularly when many of them have reportedly gone months without receiving payment.
“The question we would like to ask is, why are only farmers taking the hit?” he said. “When you look at the trajectory of our cocoa system, there’s the farmer, the haulage system, licensed buying companies, and COCOBOD. That’s before the beans are even exported. So why is the farmer alone taking the hit?”
He maintained that if cost-cutting measures were necessary, they should have been applied across the value chain beginning with administrative expenditure, staff salaries and government margins rather than reducing farmers’ earnings.
“The first step should have been to reduce the salaries of staff and the margins that the government makes by the same amount,” he stated. “If COCOBOD staff were also affected, it would create a fairer system and a level playing field for farmers.”
Nana Aduna II further expressed concern about the weakening of farmer groups over the years, which he said has undermined their capacity for collective bargaining and effective resistance.
“Farmer groups have been made poor and weakened over time. There is very limited collective bargaining. So how do we fight back? What tools do we have? Do we just put our hands behind our backs?” he asked.
He stressed that to truly understand the ongoing challenges farmers face, it is important to look at the history of Ghana’s cocoa industry.
According to him, despite playing a central role in the sector, farmers have continued to experience longstanding inequalities.
His comments come after the government announced a new farmgate cocoa price of GH₵41,392 per tonne for the 2025–2026 season, which works out to GH₵2,587 per bag.
