The government of Ghana has announced an increase in the producer price of cocoa for the 2024/2025 season.

Effective immediately, the new rate will see the government purchasing cocoa beans from farmers at GH¢48,000 per tonne, translating to GH¢3,000 per 64-kg bag of cocoa.

In April, the government had previously announced an increase in the producer price of cocoa for the remainder of the 2023/2024 season. At that time, the beans were purchased at GH¢33,120 per tonne and GH¢2,070 per 64-kg bag. This represented a 58.26% increase from the GH¢20,928 per tonne and GH¢1,308 per 64-kg bag announced at the beginning of the farming season in September 2023.

The newly announced figures for the 2024/2025 cocoa season reflect a 44.97% increase over the half-year prices announced in April.

This price increase comes as international cocoa prices have more than tripled over the past year, driven by disease and adverse weather conditions in Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast, which have led to a third consecutive global deficit.

Cocoa production in Ghana has recently declined. The Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has announced a 19.8% reduction in the targeted cocoa production for the season, adjusting from 810,000 metric tonnes to 650,000 metric tonnes.

Ongoing issues such as illegal mining, unfavorable rainfall patterns, and crop diseases continue to impact production. Additionally, COCOBOD estimates that about 150,000 tonnes of cocoa beans were lost to smuggling and illegal mining (galamsey) in the previous season.