Cocoa: Farmers announce decision to halt farming over farm-gate price

The President of the Concerned Farmers Association, Nana Oboadie Bonsu Boateng, has called on members to cease cocoa farming due to ongoing grievances with the government’s handling of cocoa farm-gate prices.

Expressing frustration, Mr Boateng declared, “We will no longer cultivate cocoa! Instead, we will uproot all our cocoa trees and switch to rubber and maize farming.” 

He accused COCOBOD management of deceiving farmers by setting inadequate farm-gate cocoa prices, prompting many farmers in the Western North Region to transition to alternative crops like maize and rubber.

Mr Boateng criticised COCOBOD’s failure to improve farmers’ welfare, citing the absence of dedicated hospitals and cancelled Cocoa road contracts intended to improvement on roads in cocoa-growing areas.

He questioned the allocation of profits from cocoa sales on the international market, emphasising the disparity between the selling price abroad and the meagre payments to farmers.

Speaking on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah, Mr Boateng expressed disillusionment with COCOBOD and rejected working with the organization further. 

He condemned the government’s defenders among cocoa farmers and warned that underpayment by COCOBOD could fuel smuggling activities.

In conclusion, Mr Boateng emphasized that the current farm-gate cocoa price is insufficient and proposed that farmers should bypass COCOBOD and directly engage with foreign partners to maximize profits.

He stressed that it does not make sense for COCOBOD to sell GHS 8,000 and give farmers GHS2,000.