 in Accra, intensifying protests over declining producer prices and delayed payments which they say are pushing farming households into severe economic hardship.){kind=link}
Cocoa farmers on Friday, February 20, picketed the headquarters of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in Accra, intensifying protests over declining producer prices and delayed payments which they say are pushing farming households into severe economic hardship.
The aggrieved farmers, who travelled from various cocoa-growing communities, carried placards and chanted slogans accusing authorities of failing to protect their livelihoods.
Some of the inscriptions read: “We worked, you lied,” “Government celebrates but our families mourn,” and “We can’t pay our kids’ school fees.”
The messages underscored the deep frustration among producers who argue that despite sustaining one of Ghana’s most critical export sectors, their incomes continue to shrink.
The protesters are demanding an immediate upward review of the cocoa producer price as well as the settlement of outstanding payments owed to them by Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) operating under COCOBOD’s supervision.
“The prices were not reduced under the previous regimes; why is this administration reducing it? We have no problem with the government, they should just leave the prices to remain the same,” a visibly frustrated female farmer told journalists at the scene.
According to the farmers, delays in payment coupled with the recent downward adjustment in cocoa prices have made it increasingly difficult to meet basic household obligations, including school fees, healthcare expenses, and farm maintenance.
“We depend entirely on cocoa. When payments delay or prices drop, our families suffer,” another protester said, warning that many farmers are struggling to mobilise funds to prepare for the next crop season.
The Accra demonstration follows similar protests in cocoa-growing regions, particularly in the Western North Region, where farmers marched through major towns to express their dissatisfaction with the reduced farmgate price.
The unrest comes at a time when Ghana’s cocoa sector is grappling with broader challenges, including global price volatility, declining output in some producing areas, and mounting financial pressures on COCOBOD.
Although COCOBOD has announced payments to Licensed Buying Companies to facilitate disbursements to farmers, several producers insist that the relief has yet to reach them at the farmgate level.
Farmer groups have cautioned that without swift intervention, many producers may scale down operations or abandon cocoa farming altogether, a development that could adversely affect future production levels and Ghana’s export earnings.