Tuesday, 17th February, 2026
Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Effutu
Mr Speaker, with respect, thank you for the opportunity to make this Statement on the need for cocoa producer price reduction that government must reverse the decision with immediate effect.
Mr Speaker, Government’s shocking announcement reducing the prevailing producer price of GH₵3,625 a bag to GH₵2,587 a bag is illegal and an attempt to shortchange our gallant cocoa farmers. The producer price of GH₵3,625 is a minimum guaranteed price and legally destined to run the full course of the 2025/2026 crop season. The cocoa sector calendar in Ghana officially commences on the 1st October of every year and ends 30th September the following year.
Mr Speaker, we are just midstream of the 2025/2026 crop season and Government cannot vary the minimum guaranteed price to the disadvantage of the cocoa farmers or any of the parties that has a share in the achieved Free on Board (FOB) price. Note, it is minimum and also guaranteed in entire course of the crop year.
Mr Speaker, the determination of the producer price of cocoa and the FOB share to other stakeholders in the industry is done by the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC). What becomes an FOB price for the approaching crop year is, in effect, the achieved weighted average of aggregated volumes and corresponding prices of cocoa already traded and contracted locked with buyers. The aggregates could be main crop beans at higher prices in combination with light crop beans at 20 per cent discount and, or rollover beans at higher or lower prices.
Mr Speaker, once the FOB price sharing is done and announced for a crop year, the producer price that arises is binding on Government/COCOBOD to pay throughout the crop year. Because it is achieved average, minimum and guaranteed, Government cannot cut the farmers price even the slightest down. If anything, Government can go up in the course of the year as has been the case, but never down.
Mr Speaker, it should be recalled that the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, in October, 2025 announced that COCOBOD has achieved an FOB price of US$7,200 per tonne and the farmer was to receive a producer price of US$5,040 at the then rates into cedi converted as GH₵58,000 per tonne or GH₵3,625 per 64 kilogramme bag. It is our candid opinion that the US$7,200 FOB price was based on factually achieved weighted average prices of already traded cocoa and not speculation. If it was factual, then Governments and COCOBOD must go ahead and pay the prevailing price of GH₵3,625 per bag to the end of the 2025/2026 crop year.
Be that as it may, Mr Speaker, once a producer price has been determined and announced for the crop year, it is legally and contractually binding. Therefore, Government cannot in the course of the particular year vary the producer price to the disadvantage of the farmer—hereby call on the Government, as a matter of urgency, to restore the producer price of cocoa in Ghana to its original value of GH₵3,625 per 64-kilogramme bag with immediate effect. We also demand that Government and COCOBOD pay any difference that farmers and the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) might have suffered already by the recent announcement.
Mr Speaker, I so submit. Thank you so much.
Hon Samuel Abdulai Jinapor
Damongo
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by the Hon Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, I think it is important that we call a spade a spade. What is happening today in our country with regard to the cocoa sector is a direct consequence or result of gross mismanagement, poor governmental judgement, lack of understanding of the international cocoa trading by the Government. That is purely what it is. It has nothing to do with all the things the Majority Leader pointed out. It is clearly a result of mismanagement. I will explain. The cocoa sector and the cocoa industry are older than our country, Ghana. It is as old as Ghana, if not older, Mr Speaker. It was very central in the issues which animated our forebears when it came to the struggle for independence.
Mr Speaker, one million Ghanaians are involved in the cocoa sector. Directly and indirectly, we are talking about four million Ghanaian livelihoods when it comes to the cocoa sector of our country. Mr Speaker, the experts have discussed this matter and have come to a firm conclusion. The reason we are in this mess is because the Government made a poor judgement when it comes to trading. They had the opportunity to engage in forward sale but they did not. They had the opportunity to engage in spot sale when cocoa price was US$11,000 per tonne. They just did not understand the industry. They did not understand the sector.
Mr Speaker, the question about debt. Cocoa debts are as old as the sector and as old as the industry. When the AkufoAddo Government came into office in 2017, it inherited a debt of GH₵19 billion. Indeed, in 2018, there was a debt, the Government of Ghana paid cocoa farmers; in 2020, Ghana had a debt, the Government of Ghana paid cocoa farmers; indeed, last year, we had debts, we still paid cocoa farmers. It has nothing to do with debts. It has everything to do with judgement, poor decision making and mismanagement.
Mr Speaker, today, our sister country, La Côte d’Ivoire, with almost the same population and industry dynamics do not even have premium cocoa. Ghana has premium cocoa. In spite of the so-called external factors, external shocks and external reduction in the international price of cocoa, La Côte d’Ivoire today is maintaining their price and paying more to their farmers than the Ghanaian Government is paying to theirs.
Mr Speaker, thirdly, never in the history of our country, since President Kwame Nkrumah’s time in 1957, have we had such a reduction in cocoa prices in our country. I want to repeat, because it has to get home, and the Government has to be humble and courageous enough to accept this truth and reality. That what we are having today in Ghana generally, and the cocoa sector in particular, is because of mismanagement, lack of understanding of the sector, and indeed poor judgement when it comes to trading in respect of cocoa. The Government must acknowledge that. As I said, we have never had a situation where cocoa prices have reduced in the manner that they have reduced today. What the Minority have asked for, and what cocoa farmers are asking for, is not grammar, it is not settings, it is not gimmickry. It is not public relations (PR). It has been 11 months and we have had enough of that. What we are asking for, and what cocoa farmers are asking for, is that they want
Mr Speaker, I want to conclude, and I conclude on this fundamental point, that they want a bailout. They want Government to cut down on expenditure when it comes to the cocoa industry and cocoa management. They cannot ask cocoa farmers to take a haircut when they are buying Land Cruisers at COCOBOD. They cannot ask cocoa farmers to take a haircut when they are renovating their offices. They cannot ask cocoa farmers to take a haircut when the entire value chain is saved and there are no cuts in the entire value chain and the poor cocoa farmer rather takes the cut.
Mr Speaker, I really want to conclude but I hope the Majority Leader will take this to Cabinet. The President and Government should have the courage, the amnesty, and sincerity to accept that the reason for the cocoa price cut is because of mismanagement and incompetence. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Sampson Ahi
Bodi
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
We find ourselves in this situation because of the mess that was created under the watch of former President H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia. It is never true that La Côte d’Ivoire has maintained their price. Mr Speaker, can they explain why?
Mr Speaker, we find ourselves in this situation as a result of the mess caused by the previous administration and I want to state that it is never true that La Côte d’Ivoire has maintained their producer price. Because if it is so, the farmers will not even call on Government to come and buy their cocoa. Anytime La Côte d’Ivoire’s price goes up, higher than Ghana’s price, we will not even hear farmers calling on Government to come and buy their cocoa, because they will smuggle the cocoa to La Côte d’Ivoire. Since the farmers are calling on the Government now, it means that our price is even higher than what is being bought in La Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr Speaker, we find ourselves in this situation because under the watch of the previous administration, they took a facility from African Development Bank (AfDB) to undertake cocoa rehabilitation. They dedicated US$350 million to rehabilitate 156,000 hectares. Mr Speaker, do you know that this US$350 million was spent and instead of rehabilitating cocoa to the tune of 156,000 hectares, they did only 40,000 hectares. The money was spent and they only rehabilitated 40,000 hectares. That was not enough. Under their watch, in addition to that, they borrowed GH₵700 million from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to rehabilitate 156,000 hectares. They did only 40,000 hectares. They have a lot of questions to answer and explanations to give us on what they did with the rest of the money.
Mr Speaker, within 2022/2023, under their watch, they took the facility of US$800 million to buy cocoa of 800,000 tonnes. They said that they were going to use 786,000 tonnes to pay for their syndicated loan of US$800 million. They only delivered 400,000 tonnes and they could not deliver 336,000 tonnes. We came in to pay for this mess that they created under their watch. They should explain to us why they would borrow US$800 million to buy 800,000 tonnes of cocoa, but they bought only 400,000 and spent all the US$800 million. They should explain to us what happened to the rest of the money. These are questions they should answer.
Mr Speaker, cocoa prices in this country are not announced in a vacuum. Cocoa prices are announced based on the prevailing market price at the world market. At the beginning of 2025/2026 cocoa season, a tonne of cocoa was GH₵7,200. But because we had promised cocoa farmers that we would pay 70 per cent, we gave them US$5,040, which brought it to GH₵3,625. On Friday, a tonne of cocoa at the world market was US$3,600. If you are a reasonable and prudent government, what you do is that, you have to review the price to reflect the prevailing world market prices and that is what President Mahama has sought to do.
Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah
Ofoase Ayirebi
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
The gravamen of the submission from this Side of the House is that, just as Cabinet convened on an emergency basis to announce a reduction in the prices, we are asking Cabinet to reconvene and restore the bag price to GH₵3,625.
Mr Speaker, for those of us from the cocoa-growing villages, this is not a matter of free on board (FOB), 70 per cent or 90 per cent or some of the technical jargons being put here. This is a matter of life and death for many cocoa farmers. Early this morning, I got a call from a gentleman named Coffie from a village known as Kwaboadi No. 2 in my constituency. He has taken 200 bags of cocoa from cocoa farmers. He is a purchasing clerk and has made those 200 bags available to the district offices. After this announcement, the cocoa farmers say they know that they have sold their cocoa at the old price of GH₵3,625. The district officers are now telling them that, because COCOBOD has not evacuated, they are going to buy it at the new price.
Mr Speaker, what this means is that, for a purchasing clerk like Coffie, who has taken 200 bags of cocoa, he is now making a loss of about GH₵200,000. How many of us here, Members of Parliament and Ministers of State, can bear a loss of GH₵200,000 and survive? This is a matter of life and death for many people. It is not a simple matter of some of the numbers that are being bandied about.
Mr Speaker, the result of this decision is that, first of all, there is going to be poverty in the local communities where cocoa is the mainstay of economic activity. About one million Ghanaians are involved in the cocoa growing sector. When you cut every bag by GH₵1,000, their income is what you are cutting. In the years ahead of us, what you are going to realise is that, the motivation for a lot of young people to go into cocoa production is going to wane
In previous times, I remember, I think in the 2018/2019 year, cocoa prices on the world market went down. I was in that Cabinet meeting when the then Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo, put up a strong advocacy that it cannot be that the Government of Ghana will look cocoa farmers in the eye and cut their prices. True to it, the government did not cut cocoa prices. In fact, prices rose from GH₵475 to about GH₵3,100, despite the reduction in prices sometimes on the global market. Today, it is shocking to hear our Colleagues on the other Side mention global or external factors.
A few years ago, when we were telling them about the impact of external factors, they were laughing and saying that it is not possible. Today, they want to rely on external factors as a basis to cut cocoa prices by GH₵1,000 per bag. Mr Speaker, another thing that is going to happen in the cocoa sector is that, trust and credibility when it comes to policies in this area is going to suffer. Today, the Government is starting conversations about introducing local financing. Who is going to have confidence in the ideas that they are mentioning? When in the same cocoa year, they promised the people a price of GH₵3,600, only to reduce it to about GH₵2,500.
Mr Speaker, I conclude by this submission. Our Colleagues on the other Side, when they were in opposition, promised the Ghanaian cocoa farmer that what is due them is actually GH₵6,500. Their GH₵3,600 did not even meet the GH₵6,500 they promised. Even now, the GH₵3,100 that the previous administration left for them, they want to now cut it down to GH₵2,500. Mr Speaker, on behalf of the one million cocoa farmers of this country, we beg them to go back to Cabinet and restore the GH₵3,625 for the cocoa farmers.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity.
Hon Fred Kwesi Agbenyo
Guan
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to comment on the Statement that was made.
Mr Speaker, we in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) care about the ordinary Ghanaian. We in the NDC care about the cocoa farmers. That is why, under the NDC Administration, we introduced the free fertiliser programme for cocoa farmers—Mr Speaker, when they came, even the fertilisers that we wrote on “Not for sale”, they cleaned the “Not” and they sold the fertiliser. We were in this country when the fertilisers that were meant for Ghanaian farmers were smuggled to Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Togo under the NPP Administration.
Mr Speaker, under the NDC Administration, we gave free seedlings to cocoa farmers. For the eight years that they were in office, not even one seedling was given to cocoa farmers under their watch. At a point in this country, inflation was 54 per cent. Today as we speak, inflation is in single digit. The cocoa farmer is far better off under our watch. It is sad when we hear our Colleagues from the NPP pretend as though they like the Ghanaian cocoa farmer. They know them. They know what they did in the past eight years. They know that when they are looking for their enemy, they are the ones they will come and look for.
Mr Speaker, their party Members today are moving around the cocoa farms, trying to instigate the farmers. The farmers know them. They know what they did when they were in power. Under their watch, they awarded contracts to people to go and do cocoa roads. They gave them mobilisations, and they “chopped” the money. They did not do any work; that is their legacy.
Mr Speaker, even the cocoa scholarships that were made for poor farmers' children, were given to themselves. Their track record is there for all to see, that they do not care about Ghanaian cocoa farmers. What they care about is how to enrich themselves, and that the very little that was meant for them, they took it away. President Mahama has promised that by the grace of God, in the short term, we would make sure that we add value to 50 per cent of our cocoa beans. We would price them right here in Ghana. We would no longer take syndicated loans to buy cocoa beans. We would use our own cedis to buy the cocoa beans right here in Ghana. They would all see it with their eyes. They would see what we would do in this industry, and Ghanaian farmers will appreciate us. So, when they have a problem today, and we are talking about it, they should be the last people to open their mouths. They should keep quiet and watch President Mahama deliver on his promise.
Mr Speaker, on this note, let me assure cocoa farmers, as the Akans say, “ↄmo asoa nsuo, ↄmo asoa nsa” to wit, “they have carried both water and alcohol.” They know that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are bad managers of the economy, and that for the past eight years, they only came to enrich yourself. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Hon Abdul Kabiru Tiah Mahama
Walewale
Mr Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart and a bit of disappointed, in the sense that over one million farmers are suffering as we speak. But this House has turned it into politics.
Mr Speaker, the fate of every single cocoa farmer Mr Speaker, I will urge the Leader of the House to listen to me. This is not an issue we have to play politics over. Mr Speaker, I never mentioned volumes. I stated clearly in my introduction that the fate of one million cocoa farmers is what we are discussing. We should not treat it as business as usual.
Mr Speaker, I am disappointed because these farmers struggle to make ends meet every single day. I am disappointed because people from the north come to the south because of their ebu nu and ebu sa agreement. They are cocoa farmers. I am disappointed because this is not a southern or a northern issue; it is a national issue. We are facing a national emergency. So, when we come to this House to discuss it, I will appeal to this Side, and I will appeal to the other Side to handle this issue with seriousness and not do politics with it.
Mr Speaker, and I come to my point. Cocoa is a major staple of the country. I am afraid that we would experience the scarcity of resource. It cannot be said that Ghana is not getting it right when it comes to our gold and cocoa. It cannot be right that we are selling gold and cocoa and making losses. I think that this House must do something right about it.
Mr Speaker, Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa. As we speak, what has caused this problem is purely a mistake of strategy. How can they make the cocoa prices spot price when they know that the market is a forward market? How do they decide as a Government to assume that prices are going to increase, and leave over 70,000 tonnes of cocoa in the hands of the farmers, and not export it, or sell it, then when the prices are crashing, they want to blame people?
Mr Speaker, this is not the first time we are experiencing a crash in cocoa prices. So, if anyone there is telling us that cocoa prices are decreasing, and so farmers should take a haircut, I beg to differ, because in 2017, as my Hon Colleague mentioned, cocoa prices reduced, but the then Government took a decision to protect the farmers. If they cannot protect the farmers, what is the essence of Government. What use would their vote for the politicians mean if in time of difficulty, they cannot protect them?
Mr Speaker, we are not asking for anything special. We are asking the Government to restore the prices of the farmers. And it is not only in Ghana. In Côte d'Ivoire, for instance, they also experience a decline in prices, but the Coffee and Cocoa Council of Côte d'Ivoire also took a decision to maintain the prices. Currently, it is at GH₵3,600 in Côte d'Ivoire. Why would they not do the same thing for our farmers? Mr Speaker, I will conclude on this. We have a problem. In Ghana, we initiated what we call the Côte d'IvoireGhana Initiative. The essence of that initiative was to protect the prices because it cannot be right that Ghana control almost half of the cocoa, but we cannot dictate prices. So, our call is simple. The Government should take a decision and maintain the prices of the farmers.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Eric Afful
Amenfi West
Mr Speaker, let me thank you so much for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement by the Hon Majority Leader.
Mr Speaker, let me put on record that between 2017 and 2024, the cocoa sector suffered in the hands of the NPP. They collapsed all their 36 largest buying companies. Mr Speaker, apart from the Produce Buying Company Limited (PBC), which is a Government institution, Adwumapa Buyers Limited, Cocoa Merchants (Ghana) Limited, Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company Limited, Transroyal Ghana Limited, Sika Aba Buyers Limited, Diaby Company Limited among others are in liquidation.
Mr Speaker, we know that the Licence Buying Companies (LBCs) are the companies that help the rural economy in this country. That is why I am saying that they have made the sector suffer within their time. Mr Speaker, NPP is not trying to love cocoa farmers. It is never true; they do not love them. When they came into power, they sold the fertiliser bags meant to be delivered to farmers free of charge; they sold them at GH₵80 per bag. It was meant to be free. They are now pretending they love cocoa farmers; they do not love them.
Mr Speaker, cocoa production in 2016/2017 was 967,000 metric tonnes. When they were leaving power in 2024, it was less than 500,000 metric tonnes. What is happening within this country? Mr Speaker, at times, I do understand some people who pretended that they have worked. Before NDC left power, in 2016/ 2017 crop year, there was a Fund meant to restore the producer price of cocoa for the farmers when there was a fluctuation of prices at the world market. We left about GH₵350 million in that Fund. Cocoa price stabilisation fund. We left this amount of money which was meant to cushion the cocoa farmers when there was a price fluctuation. Where is that money? That money cannot be found in the books of Ghana COCOBOD, and they are here talking about it. They are here pretending they love the cocoa farmers. They never loved them.
Mr Speaker, as has been said here, they took US$800 million to buy cocoa. They bought half of it. Where is the 400,000 metric tonnes of cocoa? Where is it? They cannot find it. Meanwhile, they could not produce 333,000 metric tonnes. Now they are talking about La Côte d’Ivoire. As we speak today, La Côte d’Ivoire is not buying any cocoa because of the seed fund situation. They do not love cocoa farmers, so they should not pretend to love cocoa farmers.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Hon Akwasi Gyamfi Onyina-Acheampong
Kwabre East
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to add my voice.
I am also quite shocked at this current occurrence, because what is happening now is not what this current Government promised our dear, cherished farmers. They told them that they will receive a very good price. They told farmers that yɛbɛto cocoa mu papabi, to wit, we will increase the price handsomely. This is what they told cocoa farmers. They came in and they have drastically reduced the price of a bag of cocoa. About GH₵1,038 shortage in a bag of cocoa. They outlined three major reasons: carryover contracts, COCOBOD debt, and a decline in world market price.
Mr Speaker, all these reasons outlined have happened before in the previous Government. When we came into power in 2017, there was a drop in price. From GH₵2,200 to GH₵1,900. When we came, COCOBOD debt was still there. When we came, world market price also dropped. When we came, there was over 190,000 tonnes of rollover contracts. The difference between us, the NPP Government, and this insensitive Government is that we cared about the ordinary farmer. We cushioned the farmer. We gave them cushioning.
We found a way of handling this. What we did was that we collaborated with La Cote d’Ivoire and we had the living income differential of US$400 per tonne. They are still benefiting from this arrangement. This was what we did. Now, what they are doing is quite unfortunate. The only reason we are having this issue is because of incompetence and judgement. The only reason is because they have not been proactive enough. There is poor strategy and they are turning around to blame someone. Instead of assuming responsibility and taking the matter up by taking the bull by the horns, they are just passing the buck. This is not what we budgeted for. This is not what we signed up to.
Mr Speaker, there is a lot of effect on farmers. Farmers are now facing high electricity prices and highwater bills. By Friday, the transportation fares will increase. They have been hit again with another GH₵1,000 slap on their incomes. And they tell us, aban papa aba. Is this aban papa? No way! Mr Speaker, La Cote d’Ivoire, as we speak, have pegged their cocoa price at CFA 2,800 per kilo, translating into GH₵ 3,600 per bag. When we talk about it, they are saying that LBCs have collapsed.
Mr Speaker, the impact of this price reduction is not only to farmers. LBCs and Purchasing Clerks (P.C.s) are suffering. This is because some of them bought the cocoa and they were holding it. They paid the farmers in lieu of the Government paying them, their stocks are still lying in their sheds and warehouses, and their prices have been reduced. Over six million people who depend on cocoa are now suffering because of this decision.
This government is not taking responsibility and wants to pass the buck. They need to pay the farmers their original price. This is what we are saying. Pay the farmers! When these issues happen, they did a knee-jerk reaction. They immediately combined and brought a knee-jerk reaction, including reducing the salaries of people working in COCOBOD. This is just a slap in the thigh. This is not what we want. What we want is that the farmers get their due; the farmers get their share of what they promised them. Pay the farmers! Pay the farmers their due! This is what we are asking for.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Vincent Oppong Asamoah
Dormaa West
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Let me thank the Hon Minority Leader for the opportunity to let Ghanaians know the actual issues.
I am very sure after this, the rallies that we do under cocoa trees are going to stop. We live on the border with La Cote d’Ivoire. My only worry currently is that our political actors on the border should be watchful. This is because there are a lot of cocoa in La Cote d’Ivoire. But the fact is that the government over there is not buying cocoa. So, if care is not taken, even the reduced price, cocoa may be coming from La Côte d’Ivoire into Ghana. The money that we are going to release this week, if care is not taken, they are going to use that money to buy Ivorian beans at the expense of our cocoa farmers. So let me sound this warning to our political actors on the border to be on the lookout.
Mr Speaker, there is a worrying situation. Currently, we are paying close to GH₵2,600 for a bag which translates into over US$200. Even during the time of the NPP, when we were paying GH₵3,100, we were paying less than $200— Some of the things that we have observed with COCOBOD, at times we sit down and ask ourselves, why should we have a government that instead of seeking the interest of Ghanaians and cocoa farmers, turn around and govern in a way that will put an institution like COCOBOD in a situation what we find ourselves.
I remember during Dr Opuni’s time; we were close to 1 million tonnes of cocoa. By the time the NPP was leaving, they did less than 500,000 tonnes of cocoa yet, they were able to add more than 30 per cent of the workforce. Where in this world can we find that whilst output is coming down, workforce is still recruited. Go to the ports. They bought a lot of cocoa sacks that till 2029, we do not have to even buy cocoa sacks. They knew very well that the company was in distress, but they were only thinking about how they could cut corners, get their percentage and go away.
A lot of things happened in COCOBOD, and I believe sincerely that for the first time in the history of this country, COCOBOD is paying 90 per cent FOB to cocoa farmers, and only 10 per cent is left for our recurrent expenditure. With all these things, the NPP thinks that Government should go and look for loans to top up and pay for cocoa farmers. We do not do that. Let us come to COCOBOD. By the time they were awarding contracts, for three years they had not even made any allocation in their budget to pay contractors for cocoa roads which was over GH₵20 billion.
With all these things, they turn around—My Brothers, do we even think about this country? We turn around for the sake of politics. They know they have not done a lot of things right. They know most of these problems that have bedevilled COCOBOD are as a result of mismanagement. Rightly so, Hon Jinapor mentioned that the current situation that we find ourselves in is as a result of mismanagement, and this was done during the NPP’s governance. I think the current administration led by the CEO, Dr Randy Abbey, are doing everything with the Government to turn things around. So, we should not play politics because, farmers were happy when we paid them the price that has been announced. I assure them that by the end of the week, most of the farmers are going to receive money for the cocoa that has been delivered at the LBC level. Cocoa that has been graded and sealed—
Hon Michael Kwasi Aidoo
Oforikrom
Thank you Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to comment on the Statement.
Mr Speaker, the issue at hand is not just semantics but a serious issue that I believe we all have to pay attention to. The issue is about a trading option gone wrong. I believe a lot of people do not understand what cocoa trading is and what commodity trading is, because of that, we dilly-dally with the politics.
Mr Speaker, every year COCOBOD trades some of its cocoa forward. Why do we trade cocoa forward? To get clarity so that we will know how much cocoa we are getting, how much sales revenue we are expecting, then based on that, in October, we strike the average and determine the free on board (FOB) price for the farmer. In Ghana, we give the farmer a guaranteed minimum price. What do we mean by a guaranteed minimum price? It means that the price that we are giving is guaranteed within the season and it is not supposed to go down. If anybody has taken a critical look at the statement that was issued by La Côte d’Ivoire, they mentioned that they are maintaining the guaranteed minimum price of 2,800 CFA Franc for a bag of 64 kg, which when converted gives us about GH₵3,600 per bag. So, Ghana announced a price of GH₵3,625 last year, August, when the season opened.
Mr Speaker, once we have announced that price, we are supposed to guarantee the farmer to the end of the season. What has happened? Instead of COCOBOD selling forward sales, they decided to depend on spot sales, because of that, a chunk of cocoa was not sold. That is the only reason we are where we are. Mr Speaker, I have heard people say that 85 per cent of our cocoa was sold. In actual fact, if they sold 85 per cent of cocoa, how then do they turn back and ask for a reduction of the price? If they were able to sell 85 per cent of the cocoa, whilst they know that for a very long time, we sell 70 per cent forward, before we sell the additional light crop beans, why are they reducing the price of the farmer? These are issues that are directly going to affect the farmer.
Mr Speaker, the farmer does not take salary like you and I. Most of these farmers depend on the revenue that they will get within the season to the extent that they even take loans on the expected bags of cocoa. Imagine a farmer has gone to take a loan with the expectation that the price will be GH₵3,625 then they come back and deduct thousands of cedis from the farmer. What do they leave for the farmer? What you have done is to shortchange the farmer, and leave the farmer in debt. I have heard our Hon Colleagues consistently saying that COCOBOD has debts.
In accounting capital structure theory, a company can leverage on debt as long as the company is expecting revenue and knows that there will be accrued revenues. Once the company knows there will be accrued revenues, they can leverage on debt. When we came to power, we came to meet debt of GH₵19 billion, but we managed it, maintained the farmer’s price and made sure the farmer was not shortchanged. Let us maintain the farmer’s price at GH₵3,625. It is as simple as that.
Hon John Abdulai Jinapor
Yapei Kusawgu
Mr Speaker, the issue before us is an issue that boils down to honesty, integrity, and doing what is right. I have heard my Colleagues say that Government should go and borrow and pay the cocoa farmers. That is what they have been advocating for.
Mr Speaker, it is this same borrowing that our Colleagues did and eventually landed Ghana in a state of bankruptcy. At least, history will teach you that when you are a landlord, it is better to provide food every day than to provide jollof rice one day and starve your children for the rest of the days. Mr Speaker, what we are doing is simply attempting to balance the equation and give the farmers what is due them. I heard the Ranking Member say that we should forward sale. A forward sale is an element of hedging. But as we are forward selling, whoever is buying it is also forward buying. And he says that we knew that the price would go low. So, because the price will go low, you sell the produce today. If you are a buyer and you know that the price will go low tomorrow, will you buy it today? This is common knowledge. This attempt of forward sale does not work.
Mr Speaker, when we left office, we had a complaint from the then administration that the debt was GH₵19 billion. They told us that it was not sustainable. Did they not say that? Today, they have taken the debt to GH₵36 billion, and they think that it is sustainable? If GH₵19 billion was not sustainable, how do they think that GH₵36 billion is sustainable? They had eight years to deal with the situation. One, they reduced the tonnage because their revenue is a function of price and quantity. Even when the price comes down, and quantity shoots up, we will get that revenue. So, if they reduce the quantity from almost one million to about 500,000, and they could not even syndicate the loan, and they leave such a burden to the NDC Administration, and we are taking pragmatic steps to solve the problem, the least they can do is to commend the Mahama Administration. If they cannot do that, excuse me, they should shut up.
Mr Speaker, this attempt to politicise this cocoa issue will not wash today or tomorrow. The farmers know better. We are not shortchanging the cocoa farmer and that is a fact. All they are asking us to do is to go and borrow money and come and top up to the 80 per cent or 90 per cent that the cocoa farmer is getting. Today, when we go to the international market, and we sell the cocoa, we are giving the farmers what is due. The only problem is that the prices have come down. Because the prices have come down, when we give them 80 per cent of the price, it will seem small. But there is something known as real purchasing power in Economics.
Mr Speaker, if I receive GH₵100,000 and the price of cement is GH₵100,000, it means I can buy only one bag. But if I receive GH₵80,000, that is a reduction, and the price of cement is GH₵70,000, I will buy one bag and still have GH₵10,000 left. This is simple Economics: Class 1 Economics; Form 1 Economics. In the university, it is Economics 101. The amount of money the cocoa farmer gets from the face value might look small. But I prefer a gallon of fuel selling today at GH₵9.00 than when it was selling at GH₵23.00 under Bawumia. I prefer a bag of cement selling at GH₵82.00 than when it was GH₵104.00 under Bawumia.
Mr Speaker, when you fry, bake, roast, or toast it, this administration has done far better than the NPP Administration, and they have no cause to complain. On that note—And let me commend the Minister for Finance for being pragmatic and for being real. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Isaac Yaw Opoku
Offinso South
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Today, I am very sad.
Mr Speaker, I am sad that my Friends on the other Side have found some voices to defend the indefensible. Mr Speaker, my Friend, Hon Fred Agbenyo said that the NDC Government introduced the Free Fertiliser Programme. I will forgive him because the fertiliser programme was introduced by His Excellency former President Kufuor in 2003 for his information.
Mr Speaker, all the productivity enhancement programmes were introduced by the NPP Government. Mr Speaker, I am surprised that they are talking about production figures. I have mentioned this before. The highest production figure ever in this country was under Nana Addo Danquah AkufoAddo’s regime. The figure of 1,045,000 metric tonnes is the highest production ever in this country and it happened in 2020/2021. But that is not the issue. The issue today is about the producer price and that is what the farmer wants to hear.
Mr Speaker, in 2016, the farm gate price in this country was GH₵475 only. It took Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo to move the farm gate price from GH₵475 to GH₵3,100. They promised to pay the cocoa farmer a minimum of GH₵6,000. They have not been able to redeem that pledge. Instead of them maintaining what they came to meet, they have now reduced what they promised, GH₵3,625, to GH₵2,587, and they are giving all manner of excuses. The first excuse they are giving is that they are unable to go to the international market to borrow because Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo’s Government defaulted in the Syndicated Loan.
Mr Speaker, I want to ask the current managers of COCOBOD, how much was borrowed and how much was defaulted? The Syndicated Loan was started in 1992/1993 and for over 30 years, COCOBOD has never defaulted. So, if they are claiming that COCOBOD has defaulted in the syndicated loan, they should tell us how much was borrowed and how much was defaulted. Mr Speaker, I represent Leadership.
Mr Speaker, we want to ask COCOBOD, when they were fixing the producer price, what information did they give to the Producer Price Review Committee? Mr Speaker, every producer price is based on the achieved FoB price. So, if they know the achieved FoB price, why would you default?
Hon Godfred Seidu Jasaw
Wa East
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement made by the Minority and Majority Leaders.
Mr Speaker, it is important that we, as a Parliament, respond in our contribution to this phenomenon by constructively contributing to solutions to the problem that we are witnessing in the country. It is not right that we take political advantages of this situation. The truth is that, Ghana has utilised the Syndicated Loan for the past 32 years. I guess the most plausible question to ask is, how come that in 2023/2024, we could not raise the Syndicated Loan.
This is because COCOBOD at that time had mismanaged its finances so much so that it defaulted in domestic cocoa bills, and because it defaulted in domestic cocoa bills, when it floated the request for proposals, no single financial institution responded. And so, it was not a conscious economic pricing model for COCOBOD to start saying they are asking Local Buying Companies (LBCs) to go and buy. They just could not raise the financing. So, when we say there was a default in syndication, what it means is that the economic parameters that COCOBOD ran did not even allow it to be able to raise the syndication.
Mr Speaker, Government has responded to the situation. It has recommended by announcing reforms. Now, these reforms, people say that why is it that COCOBOD did not forward sell? COCOBOD could not forward sell because they had actually defaulted in paying the loans. In fact, by the time the NDC took over in January 2025, we had rolled over cocoa beans of 333,000 metric tonnes. These were forward sold the year before at a rate of US$2,600 per tonne. So whatever production they made, you still had to pay this at that price. And this is the time that the world market price had actually shot up to about US$10,000. And so, we are actually losing. But these forward sales are contracts that are put together to be able to serve as collateral to raise the money. Now we could not put the contracts together, how do we raise the money?
Mr Speaker, what has happened, which is the reforms that have been announced, are actually far reaching. They are going to respond to the gross mismanagement that has occurred at COCOBOD. And I think— It is three minutes, Mr Speaker. All right, Mr Speaker, I will yield. Mr Speaker, so what I will propose that we do is that the record shows that cocoa farmers are not shortchanged because the value of what they are taking is actually commensurate with the economic life that we are living in the country at this stage. Secondly, let us not forget that a lot of the projected production of cocoa beans this year has actually been bought already; 530,000 tonnes have been bought. So, what is left is just about 70,000 metric tonnes and it is not as if they are going to be bought from new farmers. They would be bought from the same farmers. So, these farmers have actually sold part of their beans at that high price. Now it is just a small percentage that is left that will enjoy these new prices.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
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