Minority Caucus Demands Urgent Increase in Cocoa Producer Price to GHC 7,400 per Bag
Opposition MPs call for immediate price adjustment as global cocoa prices soar past $11,000 per ton.
- Cocoa now trades above $11,000 per ton, warranting a price review
- Minority insists farmers are being shortchanged
- Calls for GHC 7,400 per bag to reflect market conditions
The Minority Caucus in Parliament is urgently calling on the NDC government to raise the producer price of cocoa to GHC 7,400 per bag.
Addressing the media in Parliament, the Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, recalled that in the lead-up to the December 7th Presidential and Parliamentary elections, key NDC figures—Hon. Eric Opoku (then Ranking Member for Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, now Minister for Agriculture) and Hon. Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson (then Minority Leader, now Minister for Finance)—had accused COCOBOD of underpaying cocoa farmers and depriving them of their rightful earnings.
Dr. Opoku emphasized that during those pronouncements, the world market price of cocoa had surged to $10,000 per ton, approximately GHC 150,000 at the then exchange rate of GHC 15.00 per dollar.
With current world market prices surpassing $11,000 per ton, he insists that the time is long overdue for a significant price adjustment for cocoa farmers.
The Minority Caucus, therefore, demands an immediate increase in the producer price to no less than GHC 7,400 per bag to ensure fairness for hardworking cocoa farmers.
