COCOA PRODUCER PRICE GOES UP 28% FROM GH₵515 TO GH₵660 PER BAG

“This represents a hike of more than 28% over the price obtained in the outgoing crop year of 2019/2020,” the President said.

President Akuffo Addo made this announcement at a durbar for the launch of the national cocoa rehabilitation programme at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western North Region, which formed part of his 3-day tour of the region.

The 28% increase from GH₵8,240 per metric tonne (GH¢514 per bag), producer price of the just ended 2019/2020 crop year, is the biggest in recent history. The percentage increase from the 2018/2019 crop year to the 2019/2020 crop year was 8.2%.

The president attributed the price increase to the historic cooperation between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which led to the formulation of a new cocoa trading mechanism and the achievement of the Living Income Differential (LID), which the two countries have agreed should be paid in full to cocoa farmers.

“Today, I am happy to announce that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are receiving a Living Income Differential (LID) of four hundred United States dollars (US$400) per ton of cocoa, which is an additional earning from the world market price for our farmers. The Living Income Differential is going to guarantee some stability to the producer price of cocoa and sustainability of the industry in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire,” President Akuffo Addo said.

“By this new producer price, we have kept faith with our commitment, under the international arrangement with Côte d’Ivoire and global stakeholders, by awarding to our farmers the full four hundred United States dollars per metric ton (US$400/MT) Living Income Differential (LID),” he added.

“By this substantial increase in the producer price, we are also delivering on our 2016 manifesto promise to reward handsomely the hard work of our cocoa farmers and their unequalled contribution to the economy of Ghana over the years.”

The president mentioned that there will be further deepening of the cooperation between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the cocoa sector with a goal to keep increasing the revenue which flows from the multi-billion dollar international chocolate industry to the two countries.

He bemoaned the fact that the two leading producers of the world’s cocoa beans (65%) only receive US$6 billion in inflows from the over $100 billion chocolate industry. This situation, he said, can be improved through value addition and expansion into new markets.

“Government believes that value-addition to our cocoa, and the search for new markets, will make us more money than all the aid given to us by all the donor countries. We shall gain some dignity and spare the donors the fatigue we have all heard about,”.