“Nananom, beginning 1st October 2020, I am happy to announce the award of a new cocoa producer price of ten thousand, five hundred and sixty cedis (GH¢10,560) per metric ton, equivalent to six hundred and sixty cedis (GH¢660) per bag for the coming 2020/21 crop year. This represents a hike of more than twenty-eight per cent (28%) over the price obtained in the outgoing crop year of 2019/2020.”

These were the words of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, 24th September 2020, on day 1 of his 3-day tour of the Western North Region, when he launched the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme, in Sefwi Wiawso.

The current 2019/20 producer price of eight thousand, four hundred and twenty cedis (GH¢8,240) per metric ton, i.e. five hundred and fourteen cedis (GH¢514) per bag, was an 8.2% increase over the 2018/2019 price of seven thousand, six hundred and fifteen cedis (GH¢7,615), i.e. four hundred and seventy-five cedis (GH¢475) per bag.

“By this new producer price, we have kept faith with our commitment, under the international arrangement with Côte d’Ivoire and global stakeholders, by awarding to our farmers the full four hundred United States dollars per metric ton (US$400/MT) Living Income Differential (LID),” he said.

The President continued, “By this substantial increase in the producer price, we are also delivering on our 2016 manifesto promise to reward handsomely the hard work of our cocoa farmers and their unequalled contribution to the economy of Ghana over the years.”

Living Income Differential

Touching on the unstable nature of cocoa prices on the world cocoa market, President Akufo-Addo stated that “it remains one of the biggest challenges to ensuring payment of decent farm-gate prices to our cocoa farmers.”

With Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire responsible for 65% of the raw cocoa beans used in making chocolates, the President bemoaned the fact that cocoa farmers from the two countries just US$6 billion from an over $100 billion chocolate industry.

This, he explained, is the meagre return that hardworking farmers get from their toil.

“Government believes that value-addition to our cocoa, and the search for new markets, will make us more money than all the aid given to us by all the donor countries. We shall gain some dignity, and spare the donors the fatigue we have all heard about,” he added.

This, according to President Akufo-Addo, is the rationale for the Strategic Partnership between Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, the common initiative of His Excellency President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire and himself, which is manifesting itself in a joint cocoa production and marketing policy, and which is already paying dividends.

“Today, I am happy to announce that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are receiving a Living Income Differential (LID) of four hundred United States dollars (US$400) per ton of cocoa, which is an additional earning from the world market price for our farmers. The Living Income Differential is going to guarantee some stability to the producer price of cocoa and sustainability of the industry in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire,” the President said.