Dr Wisdom Kofi Dogbey, Managing Director of the Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) Ghana Limited, has described farmer confidence as a critical pillar for Ghana’s cocoa sector.

In a policy brief shared with the GhanaWeb, he said farmer confidence must be treated as a core economic variable influencing production, quality, and long-term supply outlook.

“Farmer confidence is not a soft indicator. It is the single most consequential input into Ghana’s long-term cocoa supply outlook,” he stated.

Dr Dogbey explained that weakening farmer confidence, driven by factors such as farmer payment delays by LBCs, inadequate communication on pricing, and perceived inefficiencies in the system, could have measurable consequences across the cocoa value chain.

He noted that such challenges could lead to declining production, increased cross-border smuggling, and reduced quality standards, ultimately affecting Ghana’s reputation as a premium cocoa origin on the global market.

“When farmer confidence weakens… production declines. Cross-border leakage to neighbouring origins increases. Quality vigilance erodes,” he said, warning that those developments could undermine the reliability that makes Ghanaian cocoa attractive to international buyers.

The brief emphasised that while farmgate pricing remained a key policy tool, confidence in the sector was shaped by a broader range of factors, including transparency, access to credit and inputs, improved extension services, and infrastructure development in cocoa-growing communities.

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Dr Dogbey asserted that current COCOBOD push to prioritise continuous and transparent engagement with farmers is a key part of efforts to rebuild trust and sustain production.

“A policy environment that delivers a competitive price but fails on communication, trust, and institutional responsiveness will not sustain confidence, and will not sustain production,” he said.

He urged a shift from periodic engagement, such as annual price announcements, to a more consistent, two-way communication approach that recognises farmers as central actors in the value chain.

“The farmer is not a passive input into the value chain. The farmer is the foundation of the value chain,” he added.

Dr Dogbey also highlighted growing global scrutiny around ethical sourcing and sustainability, noting that declining farmer confidence could pose reputational risks for Ghana in international markets.

He said consumers, regulators, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks increasingly demand evidence of equitable supply chains, making farmer welfare a critical component of market competitiveness.

“An origin where farmer confidence is collapsing presents not only physical supply risk but narrative risk,” he said.

Dr Dogbe also called for strengthened farmer-focused communication strategies, including enhancing the use of local language radio programmes and direct engagement with cooperatives to explain global market dynamics and their impact on domestic pricing.

He said Ghana’s ability to navigate emerging challenges in the global cocoa market, including climate change, supply constraints, and regulatory pressures, would depend largely on the resilience and confidence of its farmers.

“The most important signal Ghana’s cocoa sector can send to the world is that its farmers are informed, respected, and confident in the system,” he stated.

Dr Dogbey urged policymakers and industry players to align reforms with the goal of building a more inclusive and responsive cocoa sector to safeguard Ghana’s position in the global market.