The government’s recently announced increase in the farm-gate price of cocoa has been criticized by the leader of the National Democratic Congress, John Mahama, as a ripoff of the labor-intensive cocoa farmers and their families, who continue to support their nation’s economy.
Mahama argued in a Facebook post that the government should have given cocoa farmers a more equitable share of the international FOB price given that the price of cocoa reached a 46-year high of $3,600.
He expressed dissatisfaction that the government had decided to give farmers just GH 1,308 per bag, or just 52.7% of the FOB price on the market abroad.
The price of cocoa beans at the farmgate has increased, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo‘s announcement over the weekend.
At the beginning of the 2023–2024 cocoa season, Nana Addo addressed the farmers in Tepa, Ashanti region, and announced that the price per bag had increased from the previous GH800 to GH1,308.
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Unconfirmed reports claim that this is the biggest increase in cocoa prices in nearly 20 years, or about a 63% increase.
For the following crop year, the new rate is anticipated to go into effect right away.
Nana Addo urged Ghanaians to consume more locally produced chocolate and other products made from local cocoa to promote both health benefits and domestic production.
Mahama added his voice to the dissatisfaction over the price increase for cocoa.
He claimed that the situation is unfair to cocoa farmers, who have suffered since the NPP took office in 2017.
He claimed that in 2016, in addition to the free fertilizer and free cocoa seedling programs, the NDC government also gave 66.06% of the FOB Price of cocoa to cocoa farmers.
According to Mahama, the NPP administration ought to have built upon this foundation by raising COCOBOD’s operational costs and decreasing the farmers’ international FOB share.
