Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire Set Cocoa Price for Global Buyers

• Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire Set Cocoa Price for Global Buyers

Two of the world’s largest producers of Cocoa, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, have agreed to set a new minimum price for cocoa.

At the just concluded two-day summit of global cocoa industry stakeholders on farmers’ income in Accra, Ghana, experts in the industry complained of the poor living condition of farmers that labour day and night to ensure constant supplies of the priced commodity.

The producers complained that despite cocoa contributing the most to global chocolate industry, presently valued at about $100 billion, only $6 billion go to cocoa producers, the backbone of the whole value chain.

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire account for about 60-65 per cent of global supplies but the poor state of cocoa farmers in the West African nations compelled stakeholders to set a floor price of $2,600 per tonne.

According to producers, buyers usually set the price for suppliers, automatically reducing their selling power. However, with the new position, producers have taken charge and henceforth would determine the price to sell.

Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s Cocoa Board, said: “this is the first time when the producers have called consumers and the first time whereby suppliers have called buyers to come and engage on price… Over the years it has been the buyers who have determined the price for the suppliers.”

Ghana’s Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, promised farmers that the administration will implement policies that would ensure farmers get a fair share of the wealth generated in the cocoa industry.

According to Bawumia, if the present challenges are not addressed it may disrupt job creation and hurt economic growth on a broader scale.

“The fact that the majority of farmers are unable to cater adequately for their family, beyond mere poverty existence, is simply unconscionable. It is startling to learn from the president of the World Cocoa Foundation that only six percent of the total value of chocolate goes to farmers. The percentage may be lower in the case of cosmetics and pharmaceutical end uses,” Bawumia said.