Former Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Fiifi Boafo, has taken a swipe at the government over the newly announced cocoa producer price for the 2025/2026 crop season, raising concerns about the figures and the rationale behind them.
Government on Monday, August 4, pegged the new price at GH₵3,228.75 per 64kg bag, up from last year’s GH₵3,100. But Mr. Boafo insists the increment falls short of what was promised by the Mahama-led administration.
“I first saw it on the internet that it is a 60% increase, and I even thought it should be 90% given that they promised to pay GH₵6,000,” he said in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem.
He also questioned why the government was quoting the price in dollar terms, when cocoa is purchased locally in cedis.
“We don’t buy cocoa in dollars, so why would we be talking to the farmer about dollars in a new pricing window? What they are doing is that if you can’t convince them, you confuse them, and that is what the government is doing. But the farmers will not be confused because they know the past prices from GH₵1,380 to GH₵3,100. They know how far the prices have gone.”
Mr. Boafo maintained that based on earlier promises, farmers should be earning significantly more now.
“They told us they would give us GH₵6,000, and that was based on last year’s figure, which was GH₵3,100. So by now, they should be paying the farmers GH₵12,000.”
He also took issue with government’s explanation that rollover contracts had affected pricing. COCOBOD’s Acting CEO, Dr. Ransford Abbey, had revealed the institution was facing $1.3 billion in losses due to undelivered forward contracts from the 2023/2024 season.
Dr. Abbey noted that 333,767 tonnes of cocoa were sold at $2,600 per tonne but were not delivered. The board is now fulfilling those contracts in the 2024/2025 season while global prices hover around $6,600 per tonne.
But Mr. Boafo disagreed with the figures.
“The prices varied, and there is no way anyone can sell 100,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in a day. We sold as high as $12,000, so why would he use $2,000, which is the lowest figure? Or does he have something to hide?”
He called for full disclosure on the cocoa sales.
“He should give us the breakdown for the sale of the 100,000 metric tonnes, because we didn’t sell all for $2,000. He is using that amount because it inures to the benefit of the government.”
Source: Gertrude Otchere
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