The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has challenged the new cocoa producer price of GH¢2,650 per 64-kilogramme bag announced by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), arguing that the price should be GH¢2,968.40 based on the 70% producer-price requirement under the Cocoa Board Act, 2026 (Act 1182).
Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku, Co-chair of the NPP Policy Committee on Agriculture, said the GH¢2,650 price, which represents an increase of only GH¢63 or 2.4% over the previous GH¢2,587, amounted to another shortchange of cocoa farmers.
He questioned COCOBOD’s claim that the new producer price represented 71.18% of the gross Free-on-Board (FOB) price and demanded greater transparency over the figures used in arriving at the new price.
According to Dr Opoku, Article 57 of the Cocoa Board Act, 2026 (Act 1182), states that “the producer price for a crop season shall not be less than 70% of the Gross Free-on-Board (FOB) price realized by the Cocoa Board for that crop season.”
NPP calculation puts price at GH¢2,968.40
Dr Opoku said prevailing international cocoa prices provided a basis for a significantly higher producer price.
He said cocoa had traded between US$5,500 and more than US$6,000 per tonne over the preceding three months, and urged COCOBOD to explain how it arrived at a gross FOB price of US$5,180 per tonne.
Using the lower international market price of US$5,500 per tonne, Dr Opoku added the US$400 Living Income Differential (LID) paid by buyers per tonne of cocoa.
That, he said, produced an expected price of US$5,900 per tonne.
Applying an average exchange rate of GH¢11.50 to the US dollar, he calculated the equivalent value at GH¢67,850 per tonne.
Seventy per cent of that amount, he said, was GH¢47,495 per tonne.
With 16 bags constituting one tonne, the corresponding producer price would be GH¢2,968.40 per 64-kilogramme bag.
On that calculation, Dr Opoku said cocoa farmers were being shortchanged by GH¢318 on every bag compared with the GH¢2,650 announced by COCOBOD.
He therefore called on the Government and COCOBOD to disclose the methodology, international benchmark price and exchange rate used in determining the new producer price.
Questions over FOB calculation
Dr Opoku also questioned whether the US$400 LID had been included in COCOBOD’s calculation.
“Farmers also want to know whether COCOBOD forgot to include in their computation the Living Income Differential of $400 buyers pay for every ton of cocoa,” he said.
He argued that the figures announced by COCOBOD did not, in his assessment, support the claim that GH¢2,650 represented at least 70% of the gross FOB price as required by law.
He also questioned whether the passage of the new COCOBOD legislation under a certificate of urgency was connected to the new pricing framework.
GH¢4bn cocoa debt
Dr Opoku said the producer price was not the only concern facing cocoa farmers and Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs).
He cited reports from the Chamber of Cocoa Marketers Association that about GH¢4 billion worth of cocoa beans delivered to COCOBOD during the 2025/26 crop year remained unpaid.
He said the outstanding amount had heightened concerns among LBCs and farmers about whether purchases under the new 2026/27 season would be paid on time.
According to him, the 2025/26 crop year had taken almost 14 months rather than the usual 12 months to complete, while farmers had experienced delays in receiving payment for cocoa already delivered.
He said the Government must pay the outstanding amounts, including what he described as the “shave-off” and other arrears owed to farmers and LBCs.
NPP recalls GH¢6,000 promise
Dr Opoku further accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of failing to meet promises made to cocoa farmers during the 2024 election campaign.
He said leading NDC figures, including the current Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, Finance Minister Ato Forson, Health Minister Kwabena Mintah Akandoh and President John Dramani Mahama, campaigned in cocoa-growing communities with a promise of GH¢6,000 per bag.
He said farmers were subsequently offered GH¢3,625 per bag for the 2025/26 season in October 2025.
Four months later, he said, the Government reduced the price to GH¢2,587 per bag in February 2026, a reduction of GH¢1,038.
Dr Opoku described the reduction as arbitrary and unlawful, arguing that the producer price announced at the beginning of the season had historically operated as a guaranteed minimum for the crop year.
He said the reduction was made without adequate stakeholder consultation and asked why the Government reduced the price below the GH¢3,100 per bag it inherited when it had been unable to deliver the GH¢6,000 it promised.
“The cocoa farmer is not asking for charity. The farmer is rather asking for fairness, certainty, timely payment and transparent marketing,” Dr Opoku said.
He called on the Government to explain the computation behind the GH¢2,650 price and take steps to restore confidence in the cocoa sector.
“Seventy percent of Gross FOB price of cocoa as the law prescribes is not GH¢2,650,” he said, insisting that cocoa farmers deserved a producer price that reflected the value of their produce and the requirements of the law.
