COCOBOD’s failure to secure syndicated loans for three consecutive seasons appears to be translating into unpaid cocoa deliveries, raising fresh questions about how the country’s cocoa purchases are being financed.
For more than three decades, COCOBOD has relied on receivables-backed syndicated loans from international banks to pre-finance the purchase of cocoa beans from farmers at the start of each crop season.
This facility provided critical “seed money” for Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to purchase produce at harvest and ensured prompt payment to farmers.
However, that long-standing practice has been abandoned over the past three seasons, creating a severe liquidity vacuum that has rippled through the value chain.
Importantly, no syndicated loan was raised for the 2024/25 season, marking the first break in the 32-year cycle of syndicated financing. COCOBOD also did not secure syndicated funding for the 2025/26 crop season, and officials have confirmed the model is off the table for now.
However, industry analysts say this shift has drastically eroded COCOBOD’s capacity to pay farmers on time and is the primary reason cocoa farmers have not been compensated for deliveries made since November last year, of which Ghana National Association of Cocoa Farmers (GNACOF) has been vocal about the dire situation.
Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio, GNACOF President Stevenson Anane Boateng lamented that farmers remain unpaid and in distress.
“The government is buying our cocoa but has refused to pay us. Since November, we have not been paid. They accept the cocoa, but they don’t pay us,” he said, describing the situation as so dire that many farmers could not celebrate Christmas and the New Year festivities.
Boateng also expressed frustration that farmers have been left in the dark about the reasons behind the payment delays, noting they are “not part of government” and have not been given clear answers.
Nonetheless, the absence of syndicated financing has also impacted the indigenous LBCs, which traditionally depended on COCOBOD’s seed funds to operate during harvests.
Compounding the crisis, sources familiar with COCOBOD’s operations say the board did not pursue syndicated loans in 2023, 2024, or 2025, even though Parliament previously approved an $800 million syndicated facility for the 2023/24 season that was never fully utilised in time.
Instead, COCOBOD reportedly turned to alternative credit sources, including unsecured loans from cocoa buyers such as Olam and other produce buying, debts that sources claim remain unpaid, further straining relationships across the sector.
The result is a deep cash crunch that has left farmers waiting months for payment, disrupting livelihoods in cocoa-producing communities and threatening future production.
In addition, cocoa farmers’ welfare concerns extend beyond delayed pay. The Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association (GNACOFA) has called on government to introduce a pension scheme, enhance health insurance, and improve healthcare services for cocoa farmers nationwide.
The association warned that failure to act could force farmers to organise nationwide demonstrations to press their demands.
“If a pension scheme is not introduced, health insurance is not improved, and quality healthcare is not provided, farmers will be forced to take matters into their own hands,” GNACOFA officials said in a formal appeal.
The dual crisis of financing and welfare support has exposed the vulnerability of Ghana’s cocoa sector at a time when farmers are already grappling with rising input costs and climatic challenges.
Analysts say that restoring syndicated loans or establishing an effective alternative financing mechanism is urgent if COCOBOD is to regain its ability to pay farmers promptly and sustain confidence in Ghana’s cocoa economy.
As policy debates continue, cocoa farmers across the country remain unpaid and uncertain, waiting for a solution that would stabilize the sector and secure their livelihoods.
