The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has expressed concern about the state of the cocoa sector, emphasising the need to reset the industry.

Speaking recently on the floor of Parliament he called for policy interventions to revive the sector.

“What we have to do now is to come up with policies that will ensure the rejuvenation of the cocoa sector, to reset the entire cocoa sector, increase cocoa production so that we can maximize the benefits for our cocoa farmers", he stated.

He spoke about the need for transparency in government interventions.

"There's a need for us to indicate to them measures we are putting in place to address them. But for them to have a better appreciation of the measures, they must know the true state now so that they will all agree that these measures are good measures to address them", he stated.

He also emphasised the significance of ensuring that roads leading to cocoa-growing areas are well-maintained, stating, “Mr. Speaker, somebody also spoke about cocoa roads. This is a serious matter that we are looking at. The argument advanced was that to be able to increase cocoa production, we have to fix all the roads leading to cocoa-growing areas.”

He continued, “You recall that in 2017 when the NPP assumed office, none of the issues that became topical in our country here and were discussed extensively throughout all the media outlets had to do with cocoa roads. Because at that time, we had awarded contracts amounting to 5.1 billion Ghana cedis.”

He also disclosed that over the past eight years, cocoa road contracts have ballooned to GH¢21 billion, leading to a financial burden on COCOBOD.

“It will surprise you to note that in the handing over notes, we are told that cocoa roads awarded in the last eight years amounted to 21 billion Ghana cedis.

“Government is recommending that we do what they call rationalization. And when we asked them, what rationalization meant, the explanation was that by rationalization, they say that we should terminate, we should repackage, and then re-award", he noted.

Eric Opoku admitted that the contracts had been over-awarded, making it difficult for COCOBOD to meet payment obligations.

“The problem on our hands today is that we have over-awarded the contracts. COCOBOD does not have the capacity to pay. So now, they are asking us in the handing over to do rationalization. And rationalization has begun", he stated.

He then assured Parliament that the process would be properly managed.

“So very soon, some of these contracts will be looked at and terminated to ensure that we make progress in the field of cocoa roads. But the assurance we are giving to members is that we will sanitize the process and ensure that roads in cocoa-growing areas alone are fixed with monies from cocoa", he noted.

On cocoa production, he refuted claims that the output had increased, describing such assertions as inaccurate.

“One of our colleagues made mention of cocoa production increasing to 600,000 or something. I was asking whether he's speaking from a different world or what. I was wondering whether he knows what he's talking about.”

He pointed out that Ghana’s cocoa production peaked at 1,047,000 tons in 2021, a historic high.

“Cocoa production peaked in 2021 at 1,047,000 tons. Unprecedented in the history of Ghana. 1,047,000 tons."

However, he lamented the sharp decline in production, stating, “But as we speak, it's around 500,000 tons. 500,000 tons. The lowest in the past two decades was recorded in 2024.”

Watch the video below

<

On Friday, February 14, 2025, as Ghana marked National Chocolate Day alongside the global celebration of St. Valentine’s Day, I reaffirmed government’s commitment to ensuring competitive prices for cocoa farmers while contributing to a statement on the floor of Parliament. This… pic.twitter.com/avWzrTJyWh

— Hon. Eric Opoku MP (@EricOpokuMP) February 16, 2025