The Cocoa Post

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have announced a major policy shift to harmonise their farmgate cocoa pricing systems, a move aimed at improving farmer incomes and strengthening their influence in the global cocoa market, the B&FT reported. The agreement was formalised in a Joint Declaration issued by President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire and President John Dramani Mahama during the Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana High‑Level Summit on the Future of the Cocoa Economy held in Abidjan.

Ghana has announced that it will maintain the cocoa producer price for the 2025/26 Light Crop Season, a decision aimed at stabilizing farmer incomes amid a steep decline in global cocoa prices. The announcement, issued by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) on June 12, 2026, underscores government efforts to protect the livelihoods of cocoa farmers during one of the most turbulent periods the global cocoa market has seen in years.

Ghana’s cocoa sector is a cornerstone of the national economy, sustaining over 800,000 farm families and approximately 3.2 million livelihoods across production, transport, and processing. Contributing 4–5% of GDP and serving as a leading source of agricultural export revenue, cocoa generated roughly $3.86 billion in foreign exchange earnings in 2025, driven by record global prices and strong processing activity.

Afarinick Company Limited (ACL) has distributed over 400,000 improved cocoa seedlings free of charge to farmers across the Volta Region, a major intervention aimed at accelerating cocoa cultivation, improving farmer livelihoods, and positioning the region as Ghana’s next cocoa production frontier, CitiNewsroom has reported.

The Cocoa Farmers Alliance Association of Africa has raised serious concerns about existing cocoa pricing models, insisting that they fail to protect farmers across Africa. In a statement released on Thursday, COFAAA Global President Adeola Adegoke said, “These systems were designed to stabilise prices in cocoa-producing countries, but in practice, prices have been quickly adjusted to match international market fluctuations.

The objective of the high-level conference is to take stock of the dialogue in Ghana on each of the topics covered during the roundtable discussions, and to draw conclusions on the way forward (i) to foster progress in the elimination of child labour, (ii) to enhance the protection and restoration of the forests, (iii) to improve the coordination of initiatives supporting the sector and (iv) to ensure a living income for the cocoa farmers.

New research into the living standards of cocoa farming families shows that on average, Fairtrade boosts farmers’ spending on household essentials beyond the need for food by 9%. For households living below the international poverty line of $3.20 a day, this figure jumps up to 14%, meaning more money in the pockets of poorer Fairtrade farmers to spend as they choose.

Eric Botwe: In areas where we needed to go down to allow the industry to succeed we did. Those were the times that cocobod was not able to pay for the farmgate prices. What happened was that a lot of companies exited the industry and the market. Olam continued to be present and then we took on some of these losses.

COCOBOD has cautioned Ghanaian artisanal chocolate manufacturers to desist from buying raw cocoa beans directly from farmers. The state cocoa regulator indicated that such actions are illegal and could have dire consequences for perpetrators. COCOBOD insists that small-scale chocolate producers buy from its approved and sanctioned channels and warehouses to ensure the beans have gone through the right testing processes and are of premium and healthy quality for consumption.

Koa is a Ghanaian-Swiss Start-up, the first cocoa fruit processor in West Africa (Ghana). By sustainable processing of the cocoa fruit to Koa Pure, (cocoa fruit juice), we increase the farmers’ income significantly and reduce up to 40% food waste, while generating valuable jobs in the rural communities. We have a 250t production capacity with over 60 employees in Ghana and Switzerland. Our processing concept is based on decentralization, digitalization as well as utilization of renewable energies.