Cocoa farmers to earn Ghs 10,000 per ton of cocoa produced starting October 1

Ghana has raised its farm gate price for cocoa by 21 per cent after implementing a US$400 per metric ton premium on futures prices for the 2020-21 harvest, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Growers of cocoa beans in the world’s second-largest producer of the crop will receive Ghs 625 (US$108) per 64-kilogram bag, or Ghs 10,000 per ton, for the harvest season that begins October 1 and continues through September 2021 after the so-called Living-Income Differential (LID) was charged on the beans. 

This compares to Ghs 515 per a bag and Ghs 8,240 per ton in the current season that ends September 30, the people said, asking not to be named as the information is not yet public.

Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast, the world’s largest grower of the crop, announced in July last year that the LID would raise the pay of farmers. The pricing mechanism received mixed reactions from traders as the premium couldn’t be hedged.

The farm gate price increase for Ghana’s estimated 800,000 cocoa farmers may boost President Nana Akufo-Addo’s chances of re-election in December’s election. He is running against former leader and main opposition candidate John Dramani Mahama.