A coalition of Ghanaian cocoa farmers has threatened to bar officers of the nationwide regulator from their farms to protest the newly introduced producer value for the upcoming season, which they are saying might gas unlawful smuggling to Ivory Coast and Togo.
Greater than 300,000 farmers expressed anger over what they take into account insufficient compensation, with some saying they might smuggle their total harvest to Ivory Coast in the event that they lived close to the border, the place costs are perceived to be extra favorable.
Ghana on August 4 introduced a hard and fast farmgate value of 51,660 cedis ($4,783) per ton for the 2025/2026 season, or 3,228 cedis per 64 kg bag, a modest 4% improve from the earlier season.
Theophilus Tamakloe, vp of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Advertising Affiliation, stated the value falls wanting the federal government’s promise to pay 70% of the free-on-board value utilized in worldwide commerce, which ought to have yielded round 3,800 cedis per bag.
Kwame Alex, named Greatest Cocoa Farmer on the current nationwide awards, stated there was a value differential of round 700 cedis between the Ghanaian value and the value fetched by Ivorian cocoa. “(That) creates incentives for smuggling,” stated Alex, who is just not a part of the coalition.
“If I am near the Cote d’Ivoire border, most likely all my cocoa beans will go to Cote d’Ivoire as a result of the federal government has not been honest to us,” Tamakloe stated.
The farmers’ menace to exclude officers working for Ghana’s cocoa regulator, COCOBOD, from their farms represents an escalation that might disrupt agricultural help providers throughout cocoa-growing areas.
Extension officers go to farms recurrently to test crops and educate farmers.
The standoff highlights rising frustrations in Ghana’s cocoa sector, the place smuggling has already turn into a big downside. The nation misplaced roughly 160,000 tons of cocoa to unlawful cross-border commerce within the 2023/24 season, in accordance with COCOBOD officers.
Kwame Alex stated pricing was significantly insufficient given rising manufacturing prices, together with pesticides now promoting for 150 cedis every and gear rental charges reaching 100 cedis per day.
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