The price paid to cocoa farmers for the remainder of the 2025-26 season has been cut, after a sharp fall in global prices left the country’s beans uncompetitive and slowed purchases.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said the Producer Price Review Committee reduced the farm-gate price to GH₵41,392 per metric ton, or GH₵2,587 per 64-kilogram bag, effective immediately. The new rate replaces the GH₵58,000 per ton announced in October.
The move follows a decline in the world cocoa price to about $4,100 per ton from an average of $7,200, Dr. Forson said at a media briefing. Ghana’s producer price had been set when market conditions were stronger, leaving the country paying farmers above what buyers are willing to pay for beans on the international market.
“The reality today is that our beans are very expensive and buyers are not buying it,” Dr. Forson said.
Ghana’s 2025-26 season began in August with a producer price of GH₵51,660 per ton, calculated at 70% of a gross free-on-board price of $7,200 using an exchange rate of 10.25 cedis to the dollar. The price was revised upward in October after Ivory Coast raised its own producer price, widening the gap and raising the risk of smuggling from Ghana.
Dr. Forson said the October adjustment made Ghana’s farm-gate price competitive and helped reduce the incentive for beans to be diverted across the border. But as prices later fell, the higher Ghanaian producer price became a liability.
He said Cocobod’s liquidity has also been constrained since the collapse of its traditional syndicated loan financing model, forcing it to rely on buyers to pre-finance purchases.
To cushion farmers, the minister said the new price reflects 90% of an achieved gross free-on-board price of $4,200 per ton, an approach he said was designed to balance farmer incomes with the need to keep the industry solvent.
According to him, government will introduce legislation to establish an automatic pricing mechanism tied to the world market price and exchange rate, ensuring farmers receive at least 70% of gross free-on-board revenue.
