Some aggrieved cocoa farmers in the Ashanti Region have described the government’s recent reduction of the producer price of cocoa as a threat to the survival of farmers and the cocoa industry.
“The price reduction by 29 per cent from GH¢3,625 per bag to GH¢2,587 per bag for the 2025/2026 season is a great disservice to the millions of cocoa farmers dotted across the country,” they said
.They indicated that the decision to reduce the producer price by GH¢1,038 would not be beneficial to cocoa farmers, saying, “this move will threaten their survival and also discourage many from venturing into cocoa farming”.
Forum
They made the remarks at a forum involving cocoa farmers and some Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) in Konongo, in the Asante Akim Central Municipality, last Wednesday.
On February 12, 2026, the government reduced the producer price of cocoa to GH¢41,392 per tonne and GH¢2,587 per bag for the remaining 2025/2026 crop season, citing a sharp fall in global market prices and mounting liquidity pressures within the sector.
Announcing the decision at a press conference in Accra, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said the adjustment was necessary to reflect current international price realities, while protecting farmers’ incomes as much as possible.
A section of the cocoa farmers
He explained that the 2025/2026 cocoa season began in August 2025 with a producer price of GH¢51,660 per tonne. At that time, the price was calculated at 70 per cent of a gross free-on-board price of 7,200 US dollars per tonne, using an exchange rate of 10.25 cedis to the dollar.
However, the decision has received mixed reactions from players within the cocoa sector, especially farmers. Whereas some farmers have welcomed the government’s decision, others have opposed it.
Unacceptable
One of the farmers from Akutuase in Asante Akim North, Isaac Opoku, said it was unacceptable for the government to announce a new price at the beginning of the season in September 2025 and turn around a few months later to reduce the price.
“How can the government use the new price to buy some of the cocoa and then decide to reduce the price to buy the remaining for the rest of the cocoa season?” he quizzed.
He indicated that cocoa farmers could not accept the price reduction as they had been short-changed, stressing, “We urge the government to reconsider the decision to safeguard the industry”.
Another farmer, Afua Badu, who rejected the price reduction while contributing to the discussion, stated that in her many years as a cocoa farmer, she had never witnessed a reduction in the producer price of cocoa.
“What we know as cocoa farmers is that the government, through the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), cannot increase the producer price; it rather maintains the current price and does not reduce it,” she pointed out.
Another participant, Robert Oduro Amoah from Konongo Odumase, warned in an interview that failure to maintain the producer price would discourage young people from entering cocoa farming, especially as the current farming population was ageing.
In a submission, the MP for Oforikrom Constituency, Michael Kwasi Aidoo, said the current happenings within the cocoa sector could force farmers to sell their farms to illegal miners.
Guaranteed price
For his part, the MP for Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency in the Eastern Region, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who kicked against the price reduction, urged the government to maintain the minimum guaranteed price in the purchase of cocoa.
He argued that the existing guaranteed minimum price gave the cocoa farmer and all those in the value chain the security to plan and budget, while going about their activities within the sector.
