Prez Akufo-Addo announces 63% increment in cocoa farmgate price

President Akufo-Addo has announced an unprecedented 63.6% increment in cocoa prices.

The significant increase from GHC 12,800 per metric tonne to GHC 20,943 per metric tonne, or GHC 800.00 to GHC 1,308.99 per bag, signals a resounding commitment to supporting the nation’s cocoa farmers.

Speaking from Tepa in the Ashanti Region on September 9, 2023, President Akufo-Addo hailed the development as a watershed moment.

The new cocoa farmgate price which is the highest paid to West African cocoa farmers in over half a century, comes as cocoa futures reach 46-year peaks, intensifying concerns over dwindling supplies from the region responsible for 70% of global chocolate’s main ingredient.

Effective immediately for the 2023/2024 crop season, the monumental price hike is poised to stimulate production, bolster rural development, and curtail the scourge of cocoa smuggling.

With over 800,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana, the world’s second-largest producer after Cote d’Ivoire, the ramifications of this announcement are poised to reverberate not only across West Africa but throughout global cocoa markets.