KON demands immediate restoration of farmgate price of cocoa

Tensions flared in Parliament yesterday as the Minority caucus strongly criticised the Mahama administration over the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices, describing the decision as economically damaging and politically inconsistent.
Leading the charge, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, formally called on the government to immediately restore the previous farmgate price of GH¢3,625 per 64kg bag.

His demand followed a statement by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, condemning what the caucus described as the mishandling of the cocoa sector.
The government’s decision to reduce the price to GH¢2,587 per bag has sparked widespread discontent in cocoa-growing communities, with farmers warning of severe economic consequences.

Speaking on the floor of the House, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who is also the Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, urged Cabinet to reconvene urgently, not to justify the reduction but to reverse it.

“Just as Cabinet met on an emergency basis to announce a reduction, we are asking that it reconvene and restore the bag price to GH¢3,625”, he said.
He stressed that for cocoa-growing communities, the issue goes beyond technical discussions about Free-On-Board (FOB) percentages or market fluctuations.

“For those of us from cocoa-growing villages, this is not about 70 per cent or 90 per cent. It is a matter of life and death for many cocoa farmers,” he declared.
To illustrate the human impact, the Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee recounted a call from a purchasing clerk in his constituency, who had already mobilised and deposited 200 bags of cocoa at the old price for evacuation.

Following the price cut, farmers were informed that because the cocoa had not yet been evacuated by COCOBOD, it would now be purchased at the new lower rate.
According to him, the adjustment translated into an immediate loss of nearly GH¢200,000 for the local buyer.

“How many of us here can absorb a loss of GH¢200,000 and survive. This is not theory. This is the destruction of livelihoods,” he said.
The Minority warned that the reduction would have ripple effects across rural economies, noting that nearly one million Ghanaians depend directly on cocoa production.

They argued that cutting over GH¢1,000 per bag would inevitably deepen rural poverty, increase school dropouts, trigger loan defaults and weaken local businesses.
Oppong Nkrumah further cautioned that the decision risks eroding long-term confidence in the cocoa sector, particularly among young people.
“Who will believe new financing models? Who will trust policy promises when, within the same cocoa year, farmers were promised GH¢3,625 and then had it reduced before the season ended?” he queried.

He contrasted the current development with the 2018–2019 cocoa season, when global prices declined but the government at the time maintained and even increased producer prices to protect farmers.
“We took the view that no government should look cocoa farmers in the eye and reduce their prices,” he said.

The Minority rejected claims that the reduction was driven purely by external market conditions, arguing that domestic management issues, poor trading strategies and policy inconsistencies within the cocoa sector were largely responsible.
They also pointed to neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, which they say has maintained its producer price framework despite global market fluctuations, thereby safeguarding farmer incomes.

The debate further revived campaign promises made by National Democratic Congress (NDC) leaders while in opposition, when they suggested that cocoa farmers deserved as much as GH¢6,500 per bag.
The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi described the current reduction as contradictory to those pledges.

“They promised GH¢6,500. They did not even sustain GH¢3,600. Now they want GH¢2,587. This is not reform, it is betrayal,” he stated.
In closing, he appealed to the government to treat the matter as a national economic concern rather than a partisan issue, urging swift action to restore the previous price and protect cocoa farmers from what he described as severe financial distress.

 

 

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