A bold proposal to overhaul Ghana’s cocoa sector governance is gaining attention, as CDD-Ghana Fellow Dr. Hene Aku Kwapong calls for the replacement of COCOBOD with a new institution called the Cocoa Regulatory Authority (CRA).
In a post accompanied by a proposed organogram, Dr. Kwapong argues that transforming the current state-dominated model into a market-based system could unlock competition, raise farmer incomes, and expand value addition across the cocoa industry.
Under the proposal, the new Cocoa Regulatory Authority (CRA) would serve strictly as a professional oversight body. Rather than directly engaging in buying, marketing, or financing cocoa, the CRA would focus on regulation, quality control, and policy enforcement.
The operational side of the industry would be opened up to market participants.
In the proposed structure, private exporters, cooperatives, and processors would compete openly for cocoa purchases from farmers. The system would place farmers at the center of a competitive network, rather than at the base of a centralized structure.
This new model, he believes, will enhance competition to achieve greater efficiency and welfare for farmers.
The model envisions a Cocoa Regulatory Authority at the top, providing professional oversight. Private exporters will operate independently. Farmer cooperatives will be empowered to aggregate and market produce, while processors compete for supply.
Instead of a single dominant buyer structure, multiple licensed players would engage farmers, negotiate prices, and compete on efficiency.
The expectation is that this competition would drive better farm-gate pricing and improve service delivery to producers.
Dr. Kwapong outlines several potential gains from the transformation. He says under this proposed framework, farmers will gain 70% of the FOB price. The intense market competition could eliminate bottlenecks and reduce inefficiencies associated with centralized marketing.
Moreover, a dedicated regulatory authority would focus on standards, transparency, and compliance rather than commercial operations.
He adds that opening the sector could reduce concentration risk and distribute market exposure across more players, asl local companies could scale into strong export and processing firms, expanding Ghana’s commercial footprint in global cocoa trade.
The model emphasizes increased local processing, with the goal of capturing significantly more value within Ghana instead of exporting raw beans.
This framework, proposed by the CDD-Ghana fellow, is similar to the approach earlier proposed by Dr. Kwabena Donkor. The former minister has maintained that the current COCOBOD is “old school”, calling for the separation of the regulatory function from the marketing function.
As calls for reforms intensify, it is unclear what path the authorities will take at the moment.
