The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is currently struggling with unsold cocoa beans, not due to smuggling but because of uncompetitive pricing—a sharp contrast to last year’s situation, according to Chief Executive Dr. Randy Abbey. Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme, Dr. Abbey explained that Ghana’s cocoa has become significantly more expensive compared to beans from other producing countries, creating a wide pricing gap that has left large stockpiles unsold.
“Our beans are not competitive—the price of our beans compared to other origins is simply higher,” he noted, stressing that the disparity has grown too wide. He revealed that, unusually, licensed buying companies have supplied beans to COCOBOD this season, but those beans remain unsold due to the pricing challenges.
Dr Abbey drew a stark contrast between the current predicament and the situation that prevailed in the 2023/24 cocoa season, when massive smuggling threatened Ghana’s cocoa production. Last year, when Ghana was paying farmers $3,100 per tonne, neighbouring countries like Togo were offering $6,000 and above – nearly double Ghana’s rate. This price differential triggered widespread smuggling that became so severe it required national security intervention.
“Last year, smuggling was rampant—we had near-daily reports of arrests, to the point that national security meetings were convened to address the issue,” Dr. Randy Abbey recalled. He explained that higher prices in neighbouring countries had encouraged smugglers to purchase cocoa directly from Ghanaian farms, removing the need for farmers to transport beans across borders themselves.
Ironically, while this year’s pricing structure has curtailed smuggling, it has created a new challenge: unsold beans on the international market. Ghana’s buyer-funded model has made its cocoa more expensive than that of competitors who operate closer to terminal market prices. This development comes amid ongoing structural reforms in the cocoa sector, as government efforts to resolve long-standing challenges have inadvertently introduced new concerns around competitiveness and marketability. Dr. Abbey’s remarks suggest that although smuggling has been curbed, Ghana now faces fresh obstacles in selling its cocoa output globally.
Source: myjoyonline.com
