The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is under fire following the Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) controversial decision to maintain current cocoa prices for the upcoming 2025/26 season, despite a bold campaign promise to increase payments to cocoa farmers.
Critics are calling it a betrayal of trust, branding the move as “political blackmail” against Ghana’s cocoa-dependent communities.
The Akufo-Addo administration increased the Cocoa price, which the NDC promised to increase it when elected into power.
In a formal communique dated April 3, 2025, and addressed to the Licensed Cocoa Buyers’ Association of Ghana (LICOBAG), COCOBOD announced that it would not increase the producer price of cocoa, contrary to expectations fueled by the ruling party’s pre-election rhetoric.
“Following the recent announcement of a producer price increase in Côte d’Ivoire, management of COCOBOD has decided to maintain Ghana’s current producer price,” the statement, signed by Dr. James Kofi Kutsoati, Acting Deputy Chief Executive for Operations, read.
This development comes just weeks after Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku took to Parliament and social media to assure cocoa farmers of better days ahead. In a Facebook post dated February 16, 2025, Minister Opoku said:
“To address this challenge, I announced the government’s decision to exceed the initial 60% proposal and offer cocoa farmers 70% of the world market price. This increase is intended to motivate farmers, boost production, and further cement Ghana’s standing as the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa.”
His comments referred to the declining output of the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), whose production dropped drastically from 6,614 tonnes in 2023 to just 2,886 tonnes in 2024.
“Since 2023, CPC’s production has been on a downward trend. Despite having a processing capacity of 64,500 tonnes, the company produced only a fraction of that,” Opoku admitted.
Yet, this promise of hope has not translated into action.
COCOBOD’s latest directive contradicts the minister’s public commitment and has sparked criticism from stakeholders across the value chain.
Analysts are also questioning the timing of the decision, coming at a moment when Ivory Coast—Ghana’s closest competitor in the cocoa trade—has raised its farmgate price to cushion farmers against inflation and global market shifts.
Ghanaian cocoa farmers, many of whom already battle poor road infrastructure, high input costs, and inconsistent rainfall, now feel abandoned.
Farmer unions and civil society groups argue that the freeze in cocoa prices is not just a policy misstep but a clear breach of trust
-BY Daniel Bampoe
