The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament has described the newly announced cocoa producer price of GH¢3,228.75 per bag as a betrayal of Ghanaian cocoa farmers, calling it “ridiculous, unfair and completely unacceptable.”
The price of the 64-kilogramme bag of cocoa has been increased by only GH¢128.75, moving from GH¢3,100 paid by the previous NPP government to the GH¢3,228.75 for the upcoming 2025/2026 cocoa season.
The new price, approved by the Producer Price Review Committee chaired by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is scheduled to take effect tomorrow Thursday, August 7, 2025.
This represents a 4% rise in local currency terms paid by the Akufo-Addo government, which was strongly criticised by then NDC candidate John Dramani Mahama.
Accordingly, now President Mahama recently promised the cocoa farmers a mouth-watering price increase.
“To Cocoa farmers, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board has informed me that in August they will announce the new cocoa producer price and I can assure the price is going to be a very, very good price,” President Mahama told cocoa farmers.
However, addressing a news conference on Tuesday August 5, the Ranking Member on Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku accused the government of betraying the trust of cocoa farmers.
He noted that the current producer price remains significantly below the promised amount, despite a surge in global cocoa prices.
“This new farm gate price of GH¢3,228.75 per bag is ridiculous, laughable, comical, absurd, shameful, unfair and a stab in the back of cocoa farmers. This is complete “sakawa” and unacceptable.
“This new price of GH¢3,228.75 per bag is completely unacceptable and has to be reviewed immediately to motivate our cocoa farmers and prevent the temptation of farmers giving their cocoa farms out to galamsey operators.
“We must safeguard our cocoa industry, protect our farmers’ livelihoods and maintain Ghana’s enviable position in the industry. The government must come again and offer a better price. Cocoa Farmers matter and demand better!! If you cannot spell, you do not write,” Dr Opoku emphasised.
He questioned the sincerity of NDC’s cry for cocoa farmers when the party was in opposition.
“What was the motive of the NDC when they insisted, while in opposition, that the then government should have paid cocoa farmers at least GH¢6,000 per bag?” he questioned.
“Would the NDC government now admit they were reckless in their demand for the then government to pay between GH¢6,000 and GH¢7,000 per bag?”
GH¢3,718 per bag should be paid
The Minority argued that even by conservative estimates, the government should have set the price at no less than GH¢3,718 per bag, considering the prevailing international market rates and the current exchange rate.
This also represents a 62.58% increase in the producer price of cocoa, from US$3,100 to US$5,040 per tonne.
In Ghana cedis, the price moves from GH¢49,600 to GH¢51,660 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢3,228.75 per 64kg bag.
The Minority caucus emphasised that the new price amounts to a “stab in the back” of hardworking farmers who continue to contribute significantly to Ghana’s economy.
Dr. Opoku warned that such poor remuneration could push cocoa farmers to abandon their farms and lease them to illegal miners, thereby worsening the country’s galamsey crisis and threatening the future of Ghana’s cocoa industry.
“Cocoa farmers deserve far better for their toil and sacrifices for their enormous contribution to the economy of the country. They cannot be taken for granted all the time. The deception must stop!,” the minority concluded.
