Ghana: Cocoa, Gold, Coffee

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is a government-controlled institution in Ghana that sets the buying price of Cocoa. Price-fixing protects farmers from the fluctuating prices of the global market. Besides providing prices for various hybrid seeds, it also provides several other services. The organisation also researches diseases that affect cocoa plants. Ghana’s best cash crop is cocoa, which is the country’s main agricultural export. After Ivory Coast, Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa exporter. Ghana’s cocoa cultivation, on the other hand, is regarded as one of the most valuable commodities and valuables in the developing world.

Ghana Cocoa Board

The Sugar and Confectionery Merchandise Manufacturing Industry includes GHANA COCOA BOARD, based in Accra, Ghana. At this location, GHANA COCOA BOARD employs 800 people and creates $1.59 billion in revenue (USD). A GHANA COCOA BOARD company family consists of 197 companies. COCOBOD underwent restructuring in 1984 to expose the cocoa segment to market forces. COCOBOD’s role was whittled down, and 40% of its employees, and at least 35,000 people, were laid off.

Government Actions

Furthermore, the government delegated crop transportation to the private sector. Eliminate the Subsidies for production factors (fertilisers, insecticides, fungicides, and tools), and establish at least one joint venture to privatise the processing sector. In 1982, implemented a new payment process called the Akuafo Search System when buying dried beans. In 1984, Ghana’s government instituted a very strategic plan, handing over control of agriculture, particularly cocoa, to the government. Over 30,000 jobs have been lost due to the government’s pricing and manufacturing controls, but Ghana remains one of the top three cocoa-producing countries. On June 11, 2019, the Coffee and Cocoa Committee of Cote d’Ivoire (both countries had been enemies for years) agreed and announced a minimum price for cocoa designed to safeguard producers.

A Ghana Marketing Board that disintegrated in 1979 and was resolved into the Ghana Cocoa Board was the first attempt to control production and market value.  The programs will provide local cocoa-processing companies with short-term working capital assistance, facilitating domestic, additional value, and usage of cocoa products in Ghana.

Ghana Cocoa Coir

Plantation sales were slow to begin, with only seven out of fifty-two being sold by the close of 1990. Although Ghana was indeed the world’s largest cocoa manufacturer in the early 1960s, by the early 1980s, production had almost vanished completely. Ageing trees, pervasive disease, poor weather, and reduced producer prices have all been blamed for the drop from a high of over 450,000 tonnes annually to a drop of 159,000 tonnes in 1983–84. Furthermore, bush fires destroyed 60,000 hectares of cocoa farmlands in 1983, resulting in a crop that was only 28% of the 557,000 tonnes recorded in 1964–65. In 1986–87, output increased to 228,000 tonnes.

The Board increased producer prices and implemented a new system that gave private traders more incentives. COCOBOD, in particular, is obliged to accept traders a minimum creator price as well as a fee to cover the buyers’ generating and transportation costs and provide some profit. COCOBOD still handled cocoa exports and shipments to other countries to ensure quality control.

Cocoa Price in Ghana

For the new cocoa crop season, which began on October 8, 2021, the government will continued the Cocoa Producer Cost of $10,560 per metric tonne. It equates to 660 euros, which is the same as the price paid to farmers for the 2019/2020 crop. It is worth 87.15 per cent of the Free on Board price (FOB price). According to the minister of food production, the Revenue difference of 400 dollar bills per metric tonne is the maximum in the subregion. This was observed despite a drop in global cocoa prices. Ghana cocoa board buys the cocoa produce from farmers at fixed company price rates. Current cocoa producer cost for 2019-20 is $515 per 64 kilograms of beans. This price is 8.42% higher than the price of the previous season, which was $475 per 64 kilograms.

Conclusion

Ghana Cocoa Board (“COCOBOD”), a parastatal, received a senior (receivables-backed) lender to fund key components of all its Productivity Enhancement Programmes (“PEPs”). The PEPs’ goal is to implement steps to increase cocoa production levels well above one million tonnes annually and increase productivity per hectare. The PEPs will primarily consist of measures to sustain plant fertility, develop irrigation systems, renovate old and disease-infected farms, expand warehouse capacity, and create an incorporated farmer dataset. The article has provided a detailed study about the Cocoa Board Ghana and Cocoa price Ghana, along with the coco coir in Ghana.