The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and cocoa farmers are losing significant revenue due to poor financial planning and an unfulfilled contractual agreement, resulting in a loss of $4000 per every metric tonne of cocoa delivered this crop season.
This was disclosed by President John Dramani Mahama during his maiden State of the Nation’s Address to parliament on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
The president revealed operational challenges and other mismanagement have resulted in COCOBOD strangling under huge debt overhang amounting to GHC32.5 billion. GHC 9.7 billion, the president indicated, is set to be paid in September this year.
Partly attributing to the very bad financial state of COCOBOD, the President told Parliament that the debts emanated from the mishandling of cocoa contracts in the 2023/2024 cocoa crop season.
He explains that COCOBOD was unable to deliver 333,767 tonnes of cocoa, which had already been sold at a price of $2,600 per tonne. Consequently, these contracts were rolled over into the 2024/2025 season, forcing Ghana to deliver cocoa at a fixed price while global cocoa prices surged.
With the current price of cocoa significantly higher and an obligation to deliver the country’s cocoa under the old contract due to the roll over, COCOBOD and the Ghanaian farmers are losing an estimated revenue of around $4000.
Already, the President revealed that 210,000 tonnes of cocoa have been delivered under the old contracts resulting in a loss of $840 million. It is estimated that once the contracts are fulfilled, COCOBOD and the farmer are likely to lose about GHC1.3 billion.
“Ghana Cocoa Board—the hope of cocoa farmers—is also highly indebted. Its balance sheet indicates a total debt of GHS 32.5 billion, of which GHS 9.7 billion is due to be paid at the end of September 2025. In the 2023/2024 crop season, COCOBOD could not supply three hundred and thirty-three thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven (333,767) tonnes of cocoa, which it sold at US$ 2,600 per tonne. As a result, the then management of COCOBOD rolled over these contracts into the 2024/2025 cocoa season,” President Mahama told parliament.
He continued that: “This implies that for every tonne of cocoa delivered this year in fulfilment of the rolled-over contracts, COCOBOD and the Ghanaian farmer would lose US$ 4,000 in revenue. COCOBOD has supplied 210,000 tonnes out of the rolled-over contract, resulting in a revenue loss of US$ 840 million for both COCOBOD and the Ghanaian farmer. COCOBOD and the Ghanaian farmer will lose another US$495 million when the Board finishes supplying the remaining rolled-over contracts.”
This huge revenue loss means the farmers are worse off despite the recent increment in the price of cocoa beans. The huge revenue loss means COCOBOD’s capacity to support farmers in terms of improved infrastructure, investments, services, and welfare is heavily impacted.
