The Ghana COCOBOD and its Ivorian counterpart have demanded a rise in the price of the commodity from stakeholders in the cocoa value chain who buy cocoa beans from the two countries to support farmers.
According to COCOBOD, even though Ghana and Ivory Coast produce the world’s premium cocoa beans, the high quality of the beans is not factored into the price.
Speaking at a meeting in Accra with European cocoa bean buyers, Ghana COCOBOD Chief Executive Joseph Boahen Aidoo emphasized that the two countries will work together to improve living conditions for cocoa farmers.
He stated, for example, that removing premium prices on cocoa is disappointing because it may cause farmers in the two countries to lower the quality of beans produced in the region.
“We believe that we have a peculiar quality in Ghana and Ivory Coast so that over the years, the industry has paid a premium for that. Now the premium is being discounted and it is very disheartening to see the premium being discounted. What it means is that once premiums are discounted then the industry is telling us to inform our farmers to also discount the quality of the cocoa, but I don’t think that is what the consumer wants”, Mr. Aidoo said.
Mr. Boahen Aidoo argued that COCOBOD and farmers’ extra efforts to maintain a certain level of quality for cocoa bean buyers should instead encourage stakeholders in Europe to pay more to maintain the standard.
“Even though beans from Ghana and Ivory Coast are the best in the world, cocoa farmers from the two countries are among the poorest in the cocoa value chain,” he said.
He emphasized the importance of fully implementing the Living Income Differential of $400 per tonne for cocoa farmers.
According to him, stakeholders in the cocoa value chain must begin to view farmers as the industry’s most important players.
