Gov’t Targets 650,000 Tonnes of Cocoa Production for 2025/26 Crop Season, Eyes 1 Million Tonne Output in the Long-term
The Government has set a cocoa production target of 650,000 metric tonnes for the 2025/2026 crop season, with a long-term ambition to ramp up output to one million tonnes, as part of ongoing efforts to revitalise the struggling cocoa sector.
The new target was announced by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson at a brief ceremony to unveil the revised cocoa producer price for the upcoming season.
“The target for the current crop year is 650,000. We hope that we will do better than that, but you have to promise sustainability, so we are looking at 650,000,” Dr. Forson stated, adding that a comprehensive strategy to boost yields would be outlined in the 2026 Budget.
Ghana’s cocoa sector — once hailed for consistently producing upwards of 850,000 to 900,000 tonnes — has come under pressure in recent years due to climate change, illegal mining, cross-border smuggling, pest infestations, and the prevalence of aging cocoa farms.
For the current 2024/2025 crop season, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has revised its forecast downwards to a maximum of 600,000 tonnes, after previously slashing its December 2024 projection from 650,000 to 617,500 tonnes. The current crop season has approximately two to three months left to conclude.
The Finance Minister acknowledged that while the 650,000-tonne target for 2025/2026 appears modest relative to Ghana’s historic highs, the projection reflects a renewed focus on building a sustainable, resilient and productive cocoa economy.
The announcement also comes alongside a new cocoa producer price of GHS 3,228.75 per 64kg bag for the 2025/2026 crop season — a 4.1% increase over the previous price — aimed at improving farmer income and discouraging smuggling.
Ghana remains the world’s second-largest cocoa producer after Côte d’Ivoire, but sustained production challenges in recent years have cast doubt on the country’s ability to maintain its global market share without significant policy and investment reforms.
