Cocoa Sector Reforms: Farmers to receive twice the prices of Ivory Coast

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has revealed that Ghanaian cocoa farmers will have their cocoa beans priced at a rate more than double the producer prices received by farmers in Ivory Coast.

Reacting to the Minority’s commentary about reduced cocoa prices following the State of the Nation Address on Friday, Mahama Ayariga cited a recent report from Reuters, which noted that starting March 1, Ivory Coast will pay its cocoa farmers between 800 to 1,000 CFA francs per kilogram for the mid-crop season.

This translates to about GHC980 to GHC1,225 for a 64kg bag, as against Ghana’s current GHC2,587 per 64kg bag.

“Mr. Speaker, it seems today is about cocoa prices. I can understand. Mr. Speaker, let me read Reuters today. Reuters has confirmed, Ivory Coast will pay cocoa farmers 800 to 1,000 CFA francs per kilogram for the mid-crop starting March 1. The main crop price was 2,800 CFA francs per kilogram. When converted to Ghana cedis, this is about 980 to 1,225 Ghana cedis per 64kg bag,” Ayariga stated.

He emphasized although the recent price cuts in Ghana have not favored several cocoa farmers, it was necessary to restore the financial health of the cocoa sector and “to a large extent, protect the farmer” in the wake of global price drops.

Despite these “favorable pricing policies” for farmers in Ghana, the cocoa sector is set to undergo compressive reforms following the current financial challenges at COCOBOD.

Until earlier this month, Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) struggled to pay farmers for cocoa that has already been delivered to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), with reports indicating that COCOBOD is straining under the weight of a more than GH¢8.8 billion owed LBCs more.

In an effort to stabilize this sector, the government announced on February 12, a reduction in the cocoa producer price to GH¢41,392 per tonne, which translates to GH¢2,587 per bag for the rest of the 2025/2026 crop season, while also directing COCOBOD to clear all arrears owed to farmers.