The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been instructed by the Coalition for Cocoa Sector Reforms to try to improve the financial circumstances of cocoa farmers.
The group claims that cocoa growers are getting poorer and more exposed than ever.
The Coalition claimed in a news release that beginning with the 2022–2023 season, farmers should receive a farm gate price rise of at least 100%.
“We want to draw COCOBOD’s and the government’s attention to the fact that cocoa farmers are getting poorer and poorer and are more vulnerable than ever.
“They deserve no less than 100% increase in farm gate price beginning the 2022/23 season. This implies no less an amount than GIV 21,120.00 per tonne or 1,320.00 per bag from the GII< 10,560 per tonne and GII< 660 per bag respectively offered in the 2020/21 season.
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“In the face of depreciation of the cedi, now is the perfect time to call for cocoa prices to be pegged against the dollar and farmers paid in the cedi equivalent of the forex received from cocoa exports.
“The Coalition of Cocoa Sector Reforms (CCRS) an advocate group for Ghana cocoa industry players, makes this proposal for the consideration and implementation by COCOBOD,” their press statement said.
It added “Regulatory mismanagement and corruption continues unabated putting licensed buying companies into debt, depreciation of the cedi, increasing inflation, activities of galamsey destroying water bodies, the degrading forest and arable lands among all the factors earlier enumerated worsens the economic and social well-being of farmers and put the industry under serious threat .
“The industry is actually sinking at a faster speed. The cocoa farmer is hungry and we call on government to address these concerns.
“We call on civil society to come together to advocate for sustainable cocoa since the industry is under a more serious threat. Production volumes is on a sharp decline because there’s no incentive for the youth to go into cocoa farming and our forest continues to see serious degradation by galamsey activities. The industry we predict might not survive the next decade if swift interventions are not taken.”
