Farmers disrupt President Akufo-Addo’s speech to celebrate historic cocoa price
The 63% hike in the producer price of cocoa – a record, the highest at any point in the past 50 years – was greeted with rapturous excitement by the farmers
It was an unexpected turn of events at the Nana Agyemang Prempeh Park in Tepa on Saturday when hundreds of enthusiastic cocoa farmers interrupted the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, during his speech at the official opening of the Ghana 2023/24 cocoa season.
As soon as the president announced the 63% hike in the producer price of cocoa – which is a record, the highest price at any point in the past 50 years – there was a rapturously excited response from the crowd.
Hundreds of farmers swarmed the podium, amid singing and dancing, forcing the president to suspend his speech for several minutes to respond to the cheers and singing from the farmers, who were overjoyed.
Not even repeated pleas to the farmers by the master of ceremonies (MC) to allow the president to complete his speech were given any heed by the jubilating farmers, who continued to display their gratitude to the president, the Minister of Food and Agriculture and the management of Ghana Cocoa Board for the extraordinary, life-changing decision.
The newly announced cocoa producer price of GHC20,943 Ghana cedis per tonne, which was set by the Cocoa Producer Price Committee, comprising industry experts and farmer representatives, is a substantial increase on the previous price of GHC12,800 per tonne, equivalent to a hike of over 63%. A standard bag of cocoa or the equivalent weight of 64 kilograms of raw cocoa beans will now fetch GHC1,308, up from last season’s GHC800 per bag.
The quantum increase is in line with the fixed objectives of the government and COCOBOD to ensure better compensation for cocoa farmers, who have been grappling with many challenges, and to reward them for their hard work and dedication.
The excitement by the cocoa farmers was rechoed by the national president of the Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), Alhaji Alhassan Bukari. He commended the government and the management of COCOBOD for responding to the concerns of Ghanaian cocoa farmers and their please for a substantial increase in the producer price this season.
A promise to farmers
Apart from giving farmers a fair share of the national income from cocoa for their efforts, President Akufo-Addo reassured them that the government will continue to support farmers in every way it can to boost production and improve their well-being.
“The government, through COCOBOD, will continue to adopt innovations aimed at improving the welfare of the Ghanaian farmer through the implementation of productivity enhancement programmes and remunerative producer pricing,” the president said.
He expressed optimism that programmes implemented by COCOBOD will enable Ghana to attain a significant level of self-reliance, promote industrialisation and provide a firm cushion against the adverse effects of price shocks, adding: “We will not relent on our promise to creating positive and permanent changes in the cocoa and agricultural sector of our economy.”
War on smuggling
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, also gave farmers his assurance that the government is resolved to deal with smuggling, which is one of the biggest bugbears plaguing Ghana’s cocoa industry.
He said pragmatic steps have been put in place to apprehend individuals and groups enabling smuggling, which denies the country and Ghanaian farmers of just reward for their toil and sweat.
“The sad part of this unfortunate situation is that individuals who are engaged in this nefarious act of smuggling are neither farmers nor staff of COCOBOD, but rather private merchants who regrettably contribute nothing to the country’s production capacity,” Acheampong said.
“But I want to assure you that we are now ready as a country to deal with this menace of smuggling, should it raise its ugly head again,” he further pledged.
COCOBOD’s appeal
The chief executive of Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, also urged cocoa farmers to continue to adopt the numerous productivity enhancement programmes being rolled out by COCOBOD to boost productivity and improve incomes, particularly those promoting pruning and hand pollination.
He reiterated COCOBOD’s commitment to farmer welfare, including offering cocoa farmers fair prices consistent with the global trend.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on 10 September 2023 to correct a wrong reference to the significance of the price rise. It is the highest producer price paid to Ghanaian cocoa farmers in over 50 years, not 15.
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