By Faridat Salifu
Ghana has sharply raised its cocoa producer price to $5,040 per tonne, a move likely to trigger ripple effects across the global cocoa market and intensify pressure on top exporters like Ivory Coast.
Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson, announced the 62.58 percent increase on Monday in Accra, describing it as a major step toward ensuring cocoa farmers receive a fairer share of rising export earnings.
The new price, up from $3,100 per tonne, comes amid surging global cocoa prices and growing scrutiny over the income disparity between producers and buyers in the international supply chain.
“This government is committed to ensuring that the cocoa farmer benefits from the gains we are making,” Forson said.
The decision could force Ivory Coast — the world’s largest cocoa exporter — to review its own pricing, as its current rate of 2,200 CFA francs per kilogramme (about $3,900 per tonne) now significantly lags behind Ghana’s benchmark.
Ghana’s move is also likely to influence global prices, which have already risen sharply in recent months due to poor harvests, climate shocks, and ageing farms in West Africa.
The new Ghanaian rate reflects a political promise by President John Mahama, who pledged to raise the farmers’ share of Free-On-Board (FOB) export earnings to at least 70 percent.
Forson noted that during the 2024–25 season, farmers only received about 63.9 percent of the FOB value — $3,100 out of $4,850 — but the new pricing formula is based on a projected FOB of $7,200 for 2025–26.
That figure blends previous low contracts with forward sales projections, underscoring how market volatility has created both risk and opportunity for producing countries.
Ghana’s price control system is intended to shield farmers from global price shocks, but in recent years it has also drawn criticism for lagging behind market highs.
The resulting frustration has seen some cocoa farmers exit the sector altogether, selling land to illegal gold miners — a shift that has reduced yields and caused widespread environmental damage.
In response, Forson also announced the revival of the free cocoa fertiliser programme, including the distribution of agrochemicals, sprayers, and flower inducers to help boost productivity.
Analysts say Ghana’s aggressive pricing strategy could reframe how cocoa-exporting countries negotiate within the global market and may increase the pressure on multinational buyers to review procurement practices.
With the cocoa trade under growing scrutiny for its exploitative legacy, Ghana’s move signals a push by producer nations to reclaim leverage and reshape a historically unequal value chain.