BY Daniel Bampoe
President John Dramani Mahama’s government has increased the producer price of cocoa for the 2026/2027 season by GH¢63 per 64-kilogramme bag, moving the price from GH¢2,587 to GH¢2,650.
The new price, equivalent to GH¢42,400 per tonne, was announced by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, on Friday, September 25, and takes effect immediately.
COCOBOD said the new arrangement gives cocoa farmers a share of 71.18 percent of the realised Gross Free-On-Board (FOB) value.
The announcement comes against a difficult backdrop for the cocoa sector, which has experienced significant fluctuations in producer prices, declining production, delayed payments and financing challenges over the past two seasons.
The GH¢2,650 price is also being announced after the government reduced the producer price during the 2025/2026 season.
The season opened in August 2025 with a producer price of GH¢51,660 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢3,228.75 per 64kg bag, based on a stated 70 percent share of a Gross FOB value of US$7,200 per tonne.
The price was subsequently reduced during the season, eventually reaching GH¢41,392 per tonne, or GH¢2,587 per bag, which was maintained for the 2026 light crop.
The latest adjustment therefore represents a GH¢63 increase over the price that prevailed immediately before the opening of the new season.
However, the new GH¢2,650 price remains below the GH¢3,000 per bag set at the beginning of the 2024/2025 season under the previous Akufo-Addo administration, and below the GH¢3,100 per bag that administration announced in November 2024.
The historical comparison has become politically significant because the Akufo-Addo administration had substantially increased cocoa producer prices in its final years in office.
In April 2024, COCOBOD announced an increase from GH¢20,928 per tonne to GH¢33,120 per tonne for the remainder of the 2023/2024 season. The following September, the price was increased to GH¢48,000 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢3,000 per bag, before another adjustment in November raised it to GH¢49,600 per tonne, or GH¢3,100 per bag.
The Mahama administration has, meanwhile, tied its cocoa pricing reforms to its pledge that farmers should receive at least 70 percent of the international or export value of cocoa.
President Mahama publicly reiterated the commitment in July 2025, saying farmers would receive no less than 70 percent of the prevailing world market price.
Government subsequently introduced a pricing framework based on the Gross FOB value rather than simply the spot world-market price.
In August 2025, government said the GH¢5,040-per-tonne producer price in US-dollar terms represented 70 percent of a US$7,200 Gross FOB value.
The government has also acknowledged that the cocoa sector entered a period of severe financial stress as international cocoa prices fell.
In February 2026, President Mahama described the downward review of the domestic producer price as a painful but necessary response to the changing international market and announced plans for an automatic pricing mechanism linked to 70 percent of the international market price.
The new 2026/2027 price is consequently being introduced at a time when COCOBOD is also attempting to overhaul its financing model.
The Board has been moving away from its traditional dependence on syndicated international loans and toward domestic financing mechanisms to fund cocoa purchases.
The financial difficulties have also affected Licensed Buying Companies, with outstanding obligations and liquidity constraints becoming major concerns ahead of the new season.
