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0 NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/cocobod-eyes-650000-tonne-output-with-new-farmer-pricing/Ghana Cocoa Board expects to hit 650,000 metric tonnes this crop season as it advances a new farmer pricing framework and prepares to host the 2027 World Cocoa Foundation summit.
Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Chief Executive Dr. Randy Abbey said production data suggest the 2025/2026 season target is within reach, representing a meaningful recovery from the 531,000 tonnes recorded in 2023/2024 and continuing the partial rebound that brought output to an estimated 700,000 tonnes in 2024/2025. The earlier decline was driven by disease outbreaks, illegal mining, adverse weather and financing constraints.
Alongside the output recovery, Cabinet has approved a new pricing structure under which farmers will receive approximately 70% of the declared world market price for cocoa. The framework also introduces periodic price reviews to allow faster responses to market movements, as well as separate pricing arrangements for the main and light crop seasons. Dr. Abbey said the reforms are designed to protect farmer incomes from global price volatility and rising production costs, though the policy will increase financial obligations on COCOBOD and other sector stakeholders.
“Producing countries cannot carry this financial burden alone,” Dr. Abbey said.
He made the point in the context of international sustainability and traceability requirements that major importing nations and chocolate manufacturers are increasingly imposing on producing countries. He warned that without a more equitable sharing of financing obligations between consuming and producing nations, these requirements risk becoming what he described as a tax on poor smallholder farmers.
The output and pricing updates coincide with COCOBOD pursuing its planned shift to cedi-denominated domestic bonds to finance cocoa purchases for the 2026/2027 crop season. The proposed issuance of approximately US$1 billion equivalent through this route would replace the offshore syndicated loan model that financed cocoa purchases for more than three decades. Dr. Abbey said easing domestic interest rates had created the right conditions for the domestic issuance, which he described as a way to fund the entire crop while reducing exchange rate exposure. COCOBOD is managing an estimated debt burden of around GH¢32 billion as it attempts to restore both production and financial stability simultaneously.
Ghana will also use the global stage to advance its case for fairer value chain financing when it hosts the 2027 World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting in Accra from March 16 to 18. The summit, themed “From Origin to Global Resilience,” will bring together governments, chocolate manufacturers, farmer groups, financial institutions and development partners. Discussions are expected to cover farmer livelihoods, climate resilience, Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease management and supply security. Dr. Abbey said Ghana intends to use the event to attract investment into domestic processing, value addition and farm rehabilitation, building on the government’s directive that at least 50% of cocoa beans be processed locally from the 2026/2027 season.
COCOBOD’s peak production of 1.04 million metric tonnes was recorded in 2020/2021. The path back to that level remains long, but the combination of recovering output, revised pricing and a new financing model signals the most comprehensive restructuring attempt the sector has undergone in decades.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, News Ghana, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/cocobod-eyes-650000-tonne-output-with-new-farmer-pricing/
