A coalition of cocoa farmers in Ghana has warned that they may block officials from the national regulator, COCOBOD, from entering their farms in protest against the newly announced producer price for the upcoming season.
Farmers argue that the fixed price could drive more of them to sell beans illegally across the borders into Ivory Coast and Togo, where prices are seen as more attractive.
More than 300,000 farmers have voiced anger over what they describe as poor compensation. Some said they would sell their entire harvest to Ivory Coast if they lived near the border.
On August 4, Ghana set the farmgate price at 51,660 cedis ($4,783) per ton for the 2025/2026 season, equivalent to 3,228 cedis per 64 kg bag, marking only a 4% increase from last season.
Theophilus Tamakloe, vice president of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association, said the price fell short of government’s earlier commitment to pay 70% of the free-on-board price used in international trade. By that calculation, farmers should have received about 3,800 cedis per bag.
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Kwame Alex, who was recently named Best Cocoa Farmer at the national awards but is not part of the coalition, also criticized the pricing.
He said there was a gap of around 700 cedis between the Ghanaian farmgate price and the price offered in Ivory Coast. “(That) creates incentives for smuggling,” Alex said.
Tamakloe added: “If I’m close to the Cote d’Ivoire border, probably all my cocoa beans will go to Cote d’Ivoire because the government has not been fair to us.”
The farmers’ warning that they may bar COCOBOD officers from their farms marks a serious escalation.
Extension officers play a key role by visiting farms to monitor crops and provide guidance to farmers, and disruptions could affect services across cocoa-growing regions.
The dispute comes as Ghana struggles with rising smuggling activity. COCOBOD has estimated that about 160,000 tons of cocoa were lost to illegal cross-border trade during the 2023/24 season.
Farmers say the problem is made worse by increasing production costs. According to Alex, insecticides now sell for 150 cedis each, while equipment rentals cost around 100 cedis per day. ($1 = 10.8000 Ghanaian cedi), according to Reuters
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