A coalition of Ghanaian cocoa farmers is threatening to bar officers of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) from their farms in protest against the newly announced producer price for the 2025/2026 season.
The farmers, numbering over 300,000, say the fixed price of GH¢51,660 ($4,783) per ton, equivalent to GH¢3,228 per 64kg bag, is inadequate and could worsen cocoa smuggling to neighbouring Ivory Coast and Togo, where farmgate prices are perceived to be more attractive. The figure represents only a 4% increase from last season.
Vice President of the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association, Theophilus Tamakloe, said the price falls short of the government’s own promise to pay farmers at least 70% of the free-on-board (FOB) international price. By his estimates, that should have translated to about GH¢3,800 per bag.
“If I’m close to the Côte d’Ivoire border, probably all my cocoa beans will go to Côte d’Ivoire because the government has not been fair to us,” Tamakloe warned.
Kwame Alex, Ghana’s Best Cocoa Farmer at the recent national awards, also criticised the pricing, pointing to a GH¢700 differential between Ghanaian and Ivorian farmgate prices. He cautioned that such gaps create powerful incentives for smuggling.
Beyond pricing, farmers cited rising costs of production as a major concern. Inputs such as insecticides now sell for GH¢150 each, while equipment rentals can reach GH¢100 per day, further squeezing already thin margins.
The coalition’s threat to ban COCOBOD officers—who provide critical extension services including crop monitoring and farmer education marks a sharp escalation that could disrupt the sector’s support systems.
Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, is already grappling with widespread cross-border smuggling. COCOBOD estimates that the country lost about 160,000 tons of cocoa to illegal trade in the 2023/24 season alone.
The standoff underscores deepening frustration among farmers, who argue that without a fairer pricing structure, both livelihoods and the long-term sustainability of the sector remain at risk.