The Minority in Parliament says the government should have increased the price of a cocoa bag by not less than GH¢2,500.
The caucus says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his appointees have engaged in gross propaganda surrounding the announcement of the farm gate prices for cocoa.
President Akufo-Addo announced a more than 60 percent hike in cocoa prices for this year’s cocoa seasont, translating to GH¢1,308 per bag.
Speaking at an event in Tepa on Saturday, September 9, President Akufo-Addo acknowledged the challenges faced by cocoa farmers due to low international cocoa prices, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite these difficulties, he mentioned that Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the government have decided to raise the producer price of cocoa.
The President explained that cocoa prices had increased from GH¢7,600 per tonne in 2016 to GH¢12,800 per tonne in 2022, a substantial 68% increase.
He stated that the government had further raised cocoa prices from GH¢12,800 per tonne to GH¢20,943 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢1,308 per bag. This new price illustrates 70.5 percent of the Gross FoB price and is equal to $1,821 per tonne.
He also highlighted that this is the highest price paid to cocoa farmers in West Africa in approximately 15 years.
But addressing a gathering of farmers in the Ahafo Region, Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson explained that farmers should have gotten at least GH¢2,500 per cocoa bag given the high price on the international market.
According to the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam MP, the price of the commodity has seen the biggest rise since 1977 and thus the government is ripping cocoa farmers.
“In fact, from 2013 to 2016 I supervised the increase in Cocoa prices. The truth is one and no one can dispute it. There are two things we use in determining the increase in Cocoa prices. The first one is the strength of the Cedi and the price of cocoa on the international market. As a country, there are things we import and there are also things we export.
“So when we import goods and the Cedi is not strong enough the prices will go up and in the same way when we export goods outside, we need to get profit.
“As we speak now cocoa prices have seen the biggest increment since 1977 so it is your season to make a profit. If NDC were to be in government, we would have a bag of cocoa at ¢2,500 and add a premium of ¢300. So you would have received ¢2,800 per bag,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minority Spokesperson on Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Eric Opoku insists the NPP government cannot claim to have done anything extraordinary when the cocoa price on the international market has soared to a record high.
He touted what he described as the NDC’s superior record in dealing with cocoa farmers.