The Convener of the Young Cocoa Farmers of Ghana, Martin Adu, says the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices will take a heavy toll on young farmers across the country.
Speaking in an interview on Dwaso Nsem on Adom FM, he described the price slash as disappointing and discouraging.
“It is not going well for young farmers in this country. The reduction has made us very disappointed,” he said. “How will this encourage us to continue in the cocoa farming business? It has become a serious worry for us.”
Mr. Adu argued that the cut is excessive and unfair but noted that farmers have no option but to accept it.
“The slash is too much and unacceptable, but we have no choice. We can’t carry cocoa around town like cassava or corn and sell it ourselves. If that were possible, we would have gone round selling it,” he stated.
He acknowledged that global cocoa prices have declined but questioned the extent of the local reduction.
“We know cocoa prices have fallen on the global market, but why slash it this way? It looks like they are more concerned about their own interest and not how this affects us,” he said.
According to him, this is not the first time global cocoa prices have dropped, yet previous governments did not reduce the producer price.
“This is not the first time cocoa prices have gone down, but our leaders did not reduce it like this. This is the first time in history something like this has happened. How do they expect young people to go into cocoa farming happily?” he asked.
Mr. Adu also pointed out that the 2025/2026 purchasing season has not yet closed, and farmers had already planned their budgets based on the earlier announced price of GH¢3,625 per bag.
“That was the price we used to prepare our budgets for the season. If I hire someone to work on my farm, I plan based on that figure. Now you have reduced it drastically,” he explained.
He calculated the financial impact.
“On one bag of cocoa, I am losing more than GH¢1,000. If I produce 100 bags, that means I am losing over GH¢10,000. That is a huge loss.”
The government has reduced the producer price of cocoa to GH¢41,392 per tonne and GH¢2,587 per bag for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop season.
Announcing the decision at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, February 12, 2026, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said the adjustment was necessary due to a sharp fall in global cocoa prices and mounting liquidity pressures in the sector.
He explained that the new price reflects current international market realities while seeking to protect farmers’ incomes as much as possible.
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