By Issah Olegor
Rage, fear, and despair are sweeping through Ghana’s cocoa-growing communities following the government’s mid-season slash in cocoa producer prices, a decision farmers describe as a “devastating blow” to their survival.
From roadside gatherings and planned demonstrations to tearful interviews under cocoa trees, one phrase echoes across the cocoa belt: “This is not fair!”
The crisis was triggered on February 12, 2026, when the Producer Price Review Committee announced a sharp reduction in the farmgate price for the remainder of the 2025/2026 cocoa season.
The producer price was cut from GH¢58,000 per metric tonne (GH¢3,625 per 64kg bag) — fixed in October 2025 — to GH¢41,392 per tonne (GH¢2,587 per bag).
The decision represents a 28.6% reduction, stripping approximately GH¢1,038 from every bag sold since February 13 and translating into losses of over GH¢16,600 per tonne for farmers across the country.
For thousands of smallholder cocoa producers already battling rising costs of fertilizer, pesticides, labour, transportation, and household living expenses, the cut has pushed many to the brink of financial collapse.
Communities On Edge
In Sefwi Wiawso, where cocoa remains the backbone of household income for more than 70% of families, anger has spilled into the streets. Farmers are preparing public demonstrations, with protests scheduled for February 19 as frustration turns into organized resistance.
Similar tensions are building in cocoa districts across the Ashanti, Ahafo, and Western North Regions, where farmers describe the decision as the harshest economic shock they have ever experienced in their farming lifetimes.
“This is not fair at all,” said Kwabena Mensah, a 45-year-old cocoa farmer from Bompata in Asante Akyem South who has cultivated cocoa for over 25 years.
“We borrowed money to buy fertilizer and hire labourers because we believed the price would stay high or even rise. Now they cut it by almost a third in the middle of the season. My loan repayments are due, my children are at home because I can’t pay school fees, and they tell us ‘global prices fell.’ What about our global costs? This is a devastating blow to our livelihoods.”
For many farmers, the pain is not only financial — it is psychological. Cocoa farming, once viewed as a stable livelihood and generational inheritance, is now being redefined as a risky survival struggle.
Broken Tradition, Broken Trust
Historically, Ghanaian governments — across political lines — have either maintained or increased cocoa producer prices, even during difficult global market conditions, to protect farmer incomes, stabilize rural economies, and discourage smuggling.
Farmers say the current mid-season cut breaks that long-standing tradition.
“We sacrificed everything for this crop,” said Abena Oforiwaa, a 38-year-old farmer from Wankyi. “We fought pests, endured drought, and worked day and night. Now because international buyers pay less, our own government punishes us instead of protecting us. This is not fairness — this is cruelty.”
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