Ghana Cocoa Board, COCOBOD, is set to roll over 120,000 tonnes of cocoa beans into the 2025/2026 crop season as it struggles to manage a staggering 33 billion Ghana cedis debt.
Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ransford Abbey, says the decision follows the regulator’s inability to meet delivery obligations under forward sales contracts signed in the 2023/2024 season.
In a meeting with cocoa farmer groups in the Eastern Region, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Dr. Ransford Abbey, disclosed that over 210,000 tonnes of cocoa out of a rollover debt of 303,767 tonnes has already been serviced — at a cost of 840 million US dollars.
But with Ghana unable to meet its contracted deliveries from last season, about 120,000 tonnes will now be pushed into the 2025/2026 season.
COCOBOD signed contracts to sell cocoa at $2,600 per ton, even as world prices surged multiple per ton. This has resulted in an average loss of $4,000 per tonne on the remaining rollover contracts — a situation Dr. Abbey described as worrying.
The situation, according to the Acting CEO, has denied cocoa farmers the opportunity to enjoy higher farmgate prices at a time when global cocoa prices have more than doubled.
Apart from the financial crisis, COCOBOD is also dealing with a disease infestation on cocoa farms. About 40 percent of Ghana’s cocoa farms are currently affected by Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease.
Despite securing $300 million to rehabilitate 156,000 hectares, only 40,000 hectares have been restored.
Earlier, Dr. Ransford Abbey paid a courtesy call on Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin at his palace in Kyebi.
The Okyenhene expressed confidence in COCOBOD’s new leadership and called for deliberate efforts to create millionaire cocoa farmers in Ghana.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
