Despite a substantial increase in Ghana’s cocoa producer price, farmers across the country are voicing dissatisfaction, calling the government’s newly announced rate disappointing and inadequate.
Cocoa farmers reject 2025/26 price—that’s the growing sentiment echoed by Emmanuel Nodjo, a cocoa farmer who owns seven acres of farmland. Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, August 5, he conveyed widespread frustration over the approved price for the new season.
“We were expecting better than this, so the price is not encouraging,” Mr. Nodjo remarked, expressing the general mood among his peers.
The government, on Monday, raised the cocoa producer price from $3,100 to $5,040 per tonne for the 2025/26 season—a significant 62.58% hike. Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced the adjustment via social media, following a meeting of the Producer Price Review Committee, which he chairs.
However, the move has done little to ease farmers’ concerns. Mr. Nodjo emphasized that the new price still falls below their expectations.
“The farmers are not very happy with the price,” he said. “The price is not appreciating, and we are not happy. We were expecting better than this, at least ¢4000, but it didn’t happen.”
In response to the backlash, Dr. Forson defended the new pricing model. He explained that it fulfills President John Mahama’s commitment to ensure cocoa farmers receive 70% of the Free-On-Board (FOB) value. The current FOB pricing, he noted, reflects a combination of past contracts sold at $2,600 per tonne and forward forecasts for the upcoming season.
He also took aim at the previous administration, highlighting that under the NPP government, farmers received only 63.9% of the FOB value in the 2024/25 season, when cocoa was priced at $3,100 per tonne, despite an FOB of $4,850.
While the new figures may appear impressive on paper, many farmers say they don’t reflect the true cost and labor of cocoa farming. For them, the gains are political, not practical. Their message to the government is unmistakable: they are not satisfied.
