Cocoa Sector Reforms: Don’t just cut salaries, fix staffing issues at COCOBOD – Economist warns
Economist Professor Peter Quartey is urged the management of COCOBOD to look beyond temporary pay cuts and implement structural reforms, arguing that salary cuts alone won’t fix the current financial troubles of the institution.
His comments follow a recent decision by COCOBOD’s senior management to slash their own pay by 20%, while other managers take a 10% reduction, in an attempt to support the government’s proposed reforms to the institution.
During a recent appearance on Citi Business News, Prof. Quartey acknowledged that although a salary cut is a step in the right direction, it is not enough to root out what he described as the systemic challenges COCOBOD faces.
“I think the signaling effect is good. That is, you are signaling to farmers, to Ghanaians, to everybody, to the global community, that as managers of the cocoa board, you want to take part of the responsibility to address the problem,” he stated.
He however remained skeptical about whether the salary reductions would have a meaningful impact on the current financial challenges at COCOBOD, and called for greater transparency regarding the actual savings from the said measure.
“I wish we were told how much that would be. I mean, there’s 20% senior management, 10% other management staff. What is the function? How much money are we talking about? How far can this money go?” he questioned.
The Economist argued that COCOBOD’s inefficiencies won’t be solved by temporary salary adjustments, rather by a comprehensive review of the workforce.
“If there are too many staff operating at COCOBOD, let’s do some rationalization. And they can be absorbed or sent to other ministries, department agencies, where they’ll be more useful, rather than laying them off, because there are no jobs,” he explained.
He cautioned the COCOBOD’s management against choosing outright dismissals, urging them to handle the situation with empathy, but emphasized that maintaining the existing payroll structure is not a viable long-term strategy.
“You can’t just lay people off. You have to give a human face to it… But then keeping them and paying so much in salaries, I don’t think is the right way to go,” he added.
Meanwhile, COCOBOD announced last week that its Board of Directors will waive all sitting allowances for the rest of the 2025/2026 crop season. This, according to the Borad, reflects its commitment to “prudent financial management, shared sacrifice and responsible leadership as the institution undergoes key reforms to address recent challenges in the cocoa sector.
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