Some cocoa farmers in the Wassa enclave of the Western Region have resorted to proceeds they realise from trading-off portions of their farms to illegal miners in order to maintain their cocoa farms, the B&FT has gathered. Sources say the inability of farmers to raise substantial funds during off-seasons to...
Ghana and Ivory Coast account for two-thirds of the world's cocoa supply, but unlike oil-producing countries, they are unable to influence prices that are historically too low to meet the basic needs of small planters. "They could decide the market prices - above all if they allied themselves with other...
The Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has announced that his outfit has completed all processes required to launch the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme, pending presidential approval. The scheme will be managed by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), and will establish a new system that...
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has said it will spend US$250million on rehabilitating cocoa farms over the next three years. The country is seeking to cut down and replant diseased and over-aged cocoa farms under a cocoa rehabilitation programme launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last month. About 40...
While government’s budget is constrained and being reprioritised to fight COVID-19, a public-private partnership (PPP) approach could deliver sustainable cocoa production, industry experts have advocated. Government recently launched a rehabilitation programme to cut down and replant diseased and over-aged cocoa farms across the country. About 40 percent - or 800,000...
There is a lot of indiscipline in our midst and people are having a field day getting away with almost anything. Reports coming in from parts of Ashanti Region show that indiscriminate sand winning is affecting cocoa farming, as sand winners are having a field day in places like Effiduase,...
As Ivory Coast prepares to collect a record cocoa crop, the market is bracing for two key unknowns: the risk of political unrest disrupting supplies and the demand hit from COVID-19. Bigger crops in West Africa would add to a global surplus at a time when consumption is under pressure...
The Ghana Cocoa Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE), a farmer-based organisation, has lauded government for increasing the producer price of cocoa for the 2020/2021 crop season. The producer price of a bag of 64kg of cocoa has been increased from GH¢ 515 to GH¢660, which translates into GH¢10, 560...
For the first time in 28 years, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has signed a US$1.3 billion syndicated loan through a virtual platform with lenders and lead arrangers abroad. The meeting which was organized via a video conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw 28 banks participate in this year’s...
COCOBOD has signed a 1.3-billion-dollar syndicated loan with 28 banks to finance the purchase of cocoa beans for the 2020/2021 crop season. The meeting which was organized via a video conferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw 28 banks participate in this year’s syndication. The loan has an interest rate of...