The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has given hints that the country’s cocoa farmers would soon have something to smile about in the coming days as far as the pricing of cocoa beans for the 2020/2021 season is concerned.
According to Cocobod CEO Joseph Boahen Aidoo, cocoa farmers would have nothing to worry about as the Pricing Committee is set to present the price of the commodity to the government by 1 October 2019, which coincides with the climax of the Cocoa Day celebration in Ghana.
The price of the cocoa is expected to rise to GHS8,000 per tonne, from the current GHS7,600 per tonne, a Senior Manager at Cocobod told Class Business.
Mr Aidoo, in an interview with Class Business on the sidelines of the media launch of this year’s Cocoa Day Celebration, said although he is unable to confirm the exact price, he is optimistic the outcome will be in the best interest of farmers.
“I cannot be very emphatic on the price because the price of cocoa is determined by the Producer Price Review Committee. The Committee is an organisation of a number of representatives of the farmers’ reps from all the regions and then at the national level with reps from Cocobod, reps from MoFA, reps from the Ministry of Finance and all stakeholders who have something to do with cocoa are represented on this big committee.
“It is only the committee that determines the price of cocoa. So, they are meeting and will continue meeting until the end of September and then present the new price to the government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. So, a price is coming and I tell farmers they must look forward to rainy days ahead.”