Policy think tank, the Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA), is urging the government to move beyond short-term macroeconomic fixes and confront what it describes as one of Ghana’s most urgent structural risks in the cocoa sector.
CERPA is bemoaning the current decline in the country’s cocoa production and other key structural challenges in the sector, touted as the backbone of the country’s economy.
In its response to President John Dramani Mahama’s recent State of the Nation’s Address (SONA), CERPA stressed that stabilising inflation and the cedi will not be enough if the country fails to modernise its cocoa industry and attract young people back to the farms.
An Aging Sector Facing Growing Threats
Cocoa also remains the backbone of Ghana’s rural economy. Millions of households depend on it directly or indirectly. Yet production has struggled in recent years due to ageing farms, swollen shoot disease, illegal mining activities, climate pressures and limited productivity growth.
Moreover, CERPA warns that the average cocoa farmer is getting older. It is estimated that the average age of cocoa farmers in the country ranges between 55 and 65 years. Many young people are leaving rural communities in search of quicker income in cities or small-scale mining.
Without deliberate policy intervention, the think tank argues, the country risks a steady erosion of output, export earnings, and rural livelihoods.
Make Cocoa Attractive to the Youth
CERPA is recommending a comprehensive cocoa modernization strategy anchored on youth participation.
The think tank believes that there is a need for structured youth entry programmes with access to land and financing. It also adds that training in modern agronomic practices and farm management is critical.
It is also advocating that the comprehensive strategy must include incentives for agribusiness start-ups across the cocoa value chain and technology adoption, including irrigation, improved seedlings, and digital monitoring tools.
Young graduates with backgrounds in agriculture, finance, engineering, and technology, CERPA suggests, should be made to see cocoa as an opportunity for entrepreneurship, from processing and packaging to logistics and export marketing.
Climate Resilience and Productivity First
Climate change is no longer a distant threat. Unpredictable rainfall patterns and rising temperatures are already affecting yields.
CERPA is calling for deliberate investment in climate-resilient seedlings, irrigation systems and farmer education. Higher productivity per hectare, it argues, is the only sustainable path forward, especially as land expansion becomes increasingly difficult.
Improving productivity would also help stabilize farmer incomes and reduce the temptation to convert cocoa farms into illegal mining sites.
Move Beyond Raw Bean Exports
Another pillar of the proposed modernization strategy is value addition. For decades, Ghana has largely exported raw cocoa beans, capturing only a fraction of the global chocolate industry’s value. CERPA believes deeper local processing and branding could significantly increase foreign exchange earnings while creating skilled jobs.
By supporting local processors and encouraging partnerships with global confectionery firms, Ghana could shift from being primarily a commodity exporter to a value-added producer.
Structural Reform for Long-Term Stability
CERPA maintains that macroeconomic stability cannot rest solely on fiscal consolidation and monetary tightening. Structural reforms, especially in export sectors like cocoa, are critical to building lasting resilience.
“Implement transparent and time-bound reforms in the energy sector to eliminate quasi-fiscal losses. – Develop a comprehensive cocoa modernization strategy focused on productivity, youth engagement, climate resilience, and value addition. Structural reform is essential to consolidate macro-stability,” CERPA noted in its analysis of the 2026 SONA.
As Ghana works to consolidate recent macroeconomic gains, the think tank insists that reforming cocoa and bringing young people back into the sector may be one of the most important long-term decisions the country makes.
