The Government of Ghana has announced an increase in the producer price of cocoa price of cocoa for the rest of 2023/2024 farming season by 58.26%.

This translates into an adjustment to GHS33,120 per tonne from the GHS20,928 per tonne announced at the beginning of the farming season in September 2023. A 64kg bag of cocoa per this new announcement will now sell for GHS2,070 instead of the GHS1,308.

Cocoa prices on the international have more than tripled over the last year as disease and adverse weather in Ghana and neighbouring Ivory Coast pushed the global market to a third successive deficit.

Ivory Coast on Tuesday raised the price of cocoa to 1,500 CFA francs ($2.47) per kg for the April-to-September mid crop of the 2023/24 season, up from 1,000 CFA francs with Ghana’s increase an expected move to neutralize possible smuggling to its neighbor.

The Minority in Parliament earlier this week had demanded an immediate upward adjustment in the price government buys the cocoa beans from farmers, citing the local currency’s slide against the dollar and soaring international prices.

Cocoa production in Ghana faces many challenges with issues of illegal mining, unfavourable rain pattern and crop diseases threatening government’s target for the 2023/24 season.

Cocobod estimates about 150,000 tonnes of cocoa beans were lost in the last cocoa season to smuggling and galamsey.

The Ghana Government has also announced a review of the Buyer’s margin to GHS2,980 per tonne in a move it says will cushion LBCs against the increase in finance cost.