Paltry increase in cocoa prices a rip-off of hardworking farmers – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has bemoaned the current increment in cocoa prices to GH¢1,308 producer price per bag of cocoa.

Mr. Mahama has described it as a rip-off of hardworking cocoa farmers.

President Akufo-Addo speaking at an event in Tepa on September 9 to announce the new cocoa price,  acknowledged the challenges faced by cocoa farmers due to low international cocoa prices, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite these difficulties, the government decided to raise the producer price of cocoa.

The President explained that cocoa prices had increased from GH¢7,600 per tonne in 2016 to GH¢12,800 per tonne in 2022, a substantial 68% increase.

Nana Addo stated that the government had further raised cocoa prices from GH¢12,800 per tonne to GH¢20,943 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢1,308 per bag for the 2023/2024 season.

President Akufo-Addo highlighted that this is the highest price paid to cocoa farmers in West Africa in approximately 50 years.

However, in a Facebook post on Monday, September 11, John Mahama argued that given the international market price of cocoa reaching a 46-year record high of $3,600, the government should have provided cocoa farmers with a more equitable share of the international free-on-board FOB price.

He lamented that the government has chosen to offer farmers a mere GH¢1,308 per bag, which constitutes only 52.7% of the FOB Price on the international market.

“Sadly, the government has chosen to give them a paltry GH₵1,308 per bag, which constitutes only 52.7% of the FOB Price of the product on the international market.”

Mahama insisted that this is unfair to cocoa farmers who have faced increasing challenges since the NPP assumed office in 2017.

Mahama pointed out that during his tenure in 2016, his government, in addition to the free fertilizer and free cocoa seedlings program, allocated cocoa farmers 66.06% of the FOB Price of cocoa.