The government has announced an increment in the producer price of cocoa to GH¢48, 000 per tonne for the 2024/2025 cocoa season from the GH¢20, 908 it traded last season.

The new price, a 129 per cent increase, translates into GH¢3, 000 per a 64 kilogram bag from the GH¢1, 308 it was priced at the be­ginning of the 2023/2024 season.

Announcing the new price at the opening of the new farming season in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, said the new price was a demonstration of the government's commitment to bet­ter the lot of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer. "The vision of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is that the cocoa sector remained robust, resilient and sustainable for present and future generations. "This appreciable increment in the producer price of cocoa signifies government's commit­ment to improve the sector and the livelihoods of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer," he said.

Acheampong, MP, Abetifi, explained that the market volatility of the produce went into the new pricing regime to ensure that farm­ers were not shortchanged.

He explained that in the last 12 months, spot prices moved from around US$2,000 per tonne in March 2023, peaked at US$12,072 per tonnes in February 2024 before dropping significantly to US$7,960 per tonne in September 2024.

On the futures market where Ghana had traded for over 50 years, he said, prices moved from US$2,200 in March 2023 to over US$10,000 in February 2024 before dropping significantly to US$6,246 in September 2024. "The severe highs and lows of prices are indicative of a market and sector that requires careful analysis before making any pricing decisions," he said.

The Ghana Cocoa Board, he said, targeted to purchase 650,000 tonnes of the international com­modity for the season, an uptick from the less than 500,000 metric tonnes it did in the just ended season.

Acheampong said the board was well fortified financially to fund the season, dismissing claims that the board was broke. "It's a wrong impression (to say the COCOBOD is broke).

We are not.

The COCOBOD is well positioned to purchase our target," he stated.  BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI