By Faridat Salifu
The Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), has endorsed the new producer price of GH¢3,228.75 per 64-kilogram bag for the 2025/2026 season, describing the adjustment as a step in the right direction.
COCOSHE said the price, equivalent to GH¢51,660 per tonne, represents 70 percent of the achieved Free-on-Board (FoB) price for the season.
The share is higher than the 63.9 percent paid to farmers in the previous season.
National President of the association, Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, said government and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) had shown responsiveness by keeping prices high despite currency stability that could have justified a cut.
He noted that COCOBOD maintained the producer price at GH¢3,100 per bag during the final quarter of the 2024/2025 season, even when exchange rate trends might have pressured a downward revision.
The association, however, is calling for the reintroduction of input subsidies, including free fertiliser, insecticides, fungicides and spraying machines.
COCOSHE said these interventions, expected to resume in the 2025/2026 crop year, are vital to boosting farm productivity and raising incomes.
Farmers also welcomed the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System, designed to ensure compliance with global market rules such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation.
The group urged greater investment in extension services and farmer training to improve adoption of the new traceability framework.
COCOSHE further praised plans for a tertiary scholarship scheme for children of cocoa farmers, which is scheduled to start in the 2026/2027 academic year.
In a related development, the Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) congratulated government on officially opening the 2025/2026 cocoa season and announcing the new producer price.
