the ghana cocoa board (COCOBOD) says it is working assiduously to resolve the delay in paying cocoa farmers for cocoa beans purchased from them through the licensed buying companies (LBCs).
chief executive of the board, randy abbey, explained at a press conference in accra on friday that the challenge was occasioned by the slump in cocoa prices on the international market and the decision by offtakers to shun ghana’s cocoa.
he said ghana cocoa is urgently priced at US$6,300 per tonne including haulage, grading, warehousing, and shipping compared to the global price of US$4,400.
having sold over 530,000 tonnes already, the affected farmers are in the bracket of the ones who have supplied about 50,000 tonnes which is yet to be sold as a result of ghana’s non-competitive price, he clarified.
“we are fully aware of the issues and we appreciate very seriously the concerns of the farmers and the licensed buying companies. COCOBOD, the ministry of finance and government are working together to find solution to this issue as quickly as possible.
“we appreciate what they are going through but we are appealing to them to keep faith with us as we work to resolve the issue. it’s their sweat. they worked for it and we’ll ensure that they are paid,” dr abbey assured.
he admitted that the cocoa sector was faced with financial challenges as a result of its inability to service both the interest and principal cocoa bills leading to a restructure.
that challenge, randy abbey emphasised, led to the failure of the board to secure the annual syndicated loan leaving the finance ministry to finance the crop.
going forward, dr abbey said government was developing a more sustainable financing option.
the new funding model, he detailed, would prioritise adding value locally and not export the beans in the raw form.
“we are looking at a model that does not tie our hands with respect to the collateralisation of the raw bean, because we want a funding structure that facilitates and supports value addition,” he revealed.
“any financing structure that limits the board’s ability to prioritise value addition will not be considered,” he added.
he announced that new funding model would take effect in the 2026/2027 crop season which opens somewhere in october.
By Julius Yao Petetsi
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The post COCOBOD working to pay farmers…CEO assures appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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