Ghana poised to raise its cocoa farmgate price

A spokesperson from the country's cocoa regulator, COCOBOD, said a meeting was held on Wednesday with producers. The move comes after Cote d’Ivoire raised its farmgate price on Tuesday of this week to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47) per kg for the mid-crop (which starts later this month), up from 1,000 CFA francs paid for the main crop which ended in March.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire supply almost 70% of the world's cocoa beans. The farmgate price hike is to allow farmers to share revenue and earn a living income from rising global prices. It will also deter bean smuggling into other countries where they can get more money for their beans.

Until the two governments' intervention, the sky-high price of cocoa on the commodity markets had not influenced the farmgate prices.

Reuters said cocoa prices have more than tripled over the last year as disease and adverse weather in Ghana and neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire pushed the global market to a third successive deficit.

Ghana's regulated cocoa price is currently 20,943 cedi ($1,574.66) per tonne, or approximately 21 cedi per kilogram.

Long overdue

Like Cote d’Ivoire, the move has been welcomed by farmers, and licensed cocoa buyers said the proposed increment was long overdue, but they warned it will increase their cost of operations.

“This increase in Ghana's price also responds to respect for the common policy developed by the two countries to promote cocoa cultivation from the two largest producers, said cocoa consultant Ousmane Attai.

Accra-based cocoapost.com reported that cocoa production in Ghana, the world’s second-largest producer, has suffered multiple challenges over the past four years. Output is expected to be almost 40% below target in the 2023-24 season due to strong winds, scant rain, smuggling, and disease.