Ghana’s cocoa farmers are complaining that they’re broke as the cocoa board – to which they are obliged by law to sell their produce – is unable to pay them.
Anane Boateng, the president of the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association, complained that while his members do all the work and shoulder the costs, Cocobod seems unable to make a profit.
MP Eric Opoku, parliamentary committee that oversees the board says Cocobod is still trying to secure a loan to pay for the 2023/24 crop but parliament will still need to approve that and there has been a problem because Cocobod has failed to account for the money it borrowed in 2020.
Cocobod says that it wanted to assure stakeholders that the necessary arrangements have been made to secure enough funding for cocoa purchases for the year under review.