The Government of Ghana has announced a new cocoa farmgate price for the 2023/2024 Cocoa Season on September 9, 2023.
On Saturday, September 9, 2023, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made the announcement at Tepa during the opening of the 2023/2024 Cocoa season.
This has seen Ghana to an increase in the state guaranteed cocoa price paid to its farmers by more than 63% in an effort to increase their income and discourage the export of beans to countries where they may be sold for higher prices due to a shortage.
Cocoa has seen a significant price increase, from GH¢ 800.00 to GH¢ 1,308.00 per bag.
As a result of the increase, the previous price per tonne of GH¢ 12,800.00 is now GH¢ 20,943.00.
A 63.5% increase from the old pricing to the new one.
President Akufo-Addo remarked at the opening ceremony of the new cocoa season in the western Tepa cocoa-growing zone that the new price is the highest paid to farmers in West Africa in more than 50 years.
He said this was intended to improve the livelihood of farmers and also provide them with a more stable income in exchange for their labor.
Due to a weaker cedi and a lower farmgate cocoa price in the 2022/2023 season, beans were smuggled out of Ghana and into neighboring Ivory Coast and Togo. Ivory Coast is the world’s leading cocoa grower.
Because of the smuggling, Ghana’s total output was lower than predicted, prompting the government to end the harvest season a month earlier than planned and launch the next harvest in September rather than October.
Leticia Adu Yankey of Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform, an independent advocacy group stated that “The difference in price has been closed and it won’t be profitable again to sell cocoa to Ivory Coast and Togo.”
The New Cocoa Price for 2023/2024
The current Cocoa price for the season is now GH¢ 1,308.00 per bag and GH¢ 20,943.00 per tonne.
