94% of cocoa farmers not satisfied with producer price for cocoa - Survey

Latest survey on price mechanism for cocoa has revealed that the majority of cocoa farmers in the country feel shortchanged by the Ghana Cocoa Board.According to respondents of the survey, the current price offered the farmers is woefully

inadequate to meet their expenses and does not correspond with the international market price. Outdooring the report in Accra, Research Consultant at Imani Africa, King Carl Duho noted that there is a lack of transparency between the pricing committee and the farmers.

"Also 88 per cent of the farmers claim they have no knowledge about the pricing mechanism, meanwhile the farmer-based organisation representing the farmers is Cocoshea," he said.

“Majority of the farmers also think that they are being offered a price that is lower than the national price announced and about 95 per cent of the farmers are not satisfied with the current producer price.”

COCOBOD in September this year increased the producer price for cocoa by 8 to GH¢8, 249 per tonne. Now despite the fact that this survey did not capture this review, most of the farmers interviewed still maintained that they feel cheated. 

The report also shows that COCOBOD failed to meet the expectation of farmers and other stakeholders.The aim of the research according to Imani Africa is to shed the light on happenings in the cocoa industry.

Commenting on the survey, Country Representative of the International Monetary Fund, Albert Touna Mama said that setting a producer price for cocoa alone will not determine the status of the industry. 

According to him, although price is a great factor to consider in making the sector robust, there is the need to pay critical attention to issues of unfamiliarity of modern methods of farming, good transport system amongst others.

“These disruptions in the cocoa production sector contribute significantly to reduce productivity,” he added. The report aims to explore the revenue management and producer pricing mechanism within Ghana’s cocoa sector.

The results suggest that the total revenue received by the sector (i.e. the Gross Free on Board (FOB)) is limited (since it is predetermined), primarily driven by developments which the country has little influence over.