The government has announced a new producer price for cocoa, setting it at GH¢41,392 per tonne for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop season in a move aimed at stabilising the sector and supporting farmers.
The new price, approved by the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC), takes effect from Thursday, 12 February 2026. The revised rate translates to GHc2,587.00 per bag, down from GHc3,625.00.
Addressing the press on Thursday, 12 February 2026, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson explained that the decision was informed by prevailing conditions on the international cocoa market.
He said the adjustment reflects current global cocoa prices and is intended to restore confidence across the industry.
The Minister further indicated that the new rate is expected to inject immediate liquidity into the cocoa value chain, helping to fast-track payments to farmers who have experienced delays in recent months and easing financial pressures at the farm level.
The price revision, he noted, forms part of broader reforms to ensure the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s cocoa industry. He described the measure as necessary to stabilise the sector, strengthen its financial footing, and secure better outcomes for cocoa farmers.
“As a result of that, the PPRC thereby announces that effective today, Thursday 12th February 2026, the new producer price for the remainder of the 2025–2026 crop season will now be 41,392 Ghana Cedis per ton and 2,587 Ghana Cedis per bag,” he said.
The new rate represents a downward revision from the initial price announced at the start of the 2025/26 crop season.
The producer price was fixed at US$5,040 per tonne, representing a 62.58 percent increase in dollar terms. In cedi terms, that translates to GH¢51,660 per tonne or GH¢3,228.75 per bag.
The Cabinet also directed the immediate transfer of cocoa road liabilities amounting to GH¢4.35 billion to the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Finance, in a move aimed at restructuring COCOBOD’s financial commitments.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson explained during his address that the decision follows a comprehensive rationalisation of cocoa road contracts awarded over the past decade.
Between 2014 and 2024, COCOBOD awarded contracts worth GH¢26.5 billion, with GH¢21.5 billion of those figures committed between 2018 and 2021.
Dr. Forson noted that under Ghana’s 2023 IMF programme, COCOBOD’s road contract exposure of GH¢21.7 billion was to be reduced to GH¢6.9 billion. However, he stated that the previous board and management failed to carry out the required rationalisation exercise.
He disclosed that the exercise has now been completed under the supervision of the Ministries of Finance and Roads and Highways. According to him, the joint review significantly reduced COCOBOD’s exposure on cocoa roads from GH¢21.7 billion to GH¢4.35 billion.
“Cabinet has also directed that with immediate effect, there should be a transfer of road liabilities worth 4.35 billion Ghana Cedis to the Ministry of Roads and Highways and the Ministry of Finance.”
The President has also directed the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the finances and operations of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) over the past eight years.
Dr. Forson said the Cabinet took the decision as part of broader efforts to restore transparency and accountability in the management of the sector.
“To ensure accountability and transparency in the management of COCOBOD and the cocoa sector as a whole, cabinet also directed the Attorney General to commission concurrent forensic and criminal investigations into the activities of COCOBOD over the last eight years,” he said.
The announcement follows an emergency meeting convened by President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday, February 11, to address the growing concerns within the sector.
The government says the investigations will run alongside broader structural reforms aimed at restoring financial stability to COCOBOD and safeguarding the livelihoods of cocoa farmers nationwide.
The cocoa industry has recently faced significant turbulence, particularly over delays in payments to farmers across the country.
The situation has raised concerns among stakeholders and sparked fears about the long-term sustainability of Ghana’s position as one of the world’s leading cocoa producers.
Cocoa farmers last week warned that they could reconsider doing business with the government if the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) fails to fulfil its statutory obligation to purchase cocoa beans.
President of the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association (GNACOFA) Stephenson Anane Boateng said COCOBOD, which has a legal mandate to buy cocoa from farmers, must be fully prepared to do so or formally inform farmers if it can no longer meet that obligation.
“We know COCOBOD is mandated to buy the cocoa, and once I have produced the cocoa, it is their responsibility to buy it,” Boateng said on The Forum. “If they are not ready to buy any longer, they should let us know so that we can decide what to do with our products.”
Boateng rejected suggestions that farmers should help design solutions to challenges facing the cocoa sector, arguing that research and policy formulation fall within COCOBOD’s remit.
“They have doctors, professors, and researchers at COCOBOD. Cocoa farmers are not knowledgeable enough to give ideas on how the cocoa business should be run,” he said.
On Thursday, 5 February 2026, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee, Isaac Yaw Opoku, called on the government and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to immediately pay cocoa farmers for beans sold since November 2025, warning that delays are plunging farmers and the cocoa industry into crisis.
Addressing journalists in Parliament, Mr. Opoku said the Minority Caucus was deeply concerned about the worsening conditions facing cocoa farmers, many of whom have not been paid for over three months.
According to him, Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) have been unable to pay farmers because funds for cocoa that has already been delivered to COCOBOD have not been reimbursed.
He noted that COCOBOD currently owes LBCs more than GH¢10 billion for cocoa taken over, leaving the companies financially constrained and unable to continue purchases.
“As a result, farmers are being forced to sell their cocoa on credit, at heavy discounts, or return home with their produce unsold,” he said, adding that the situation poses serious risks to the cocoa industry and the national economy.
Mr. Opoku accused the government and COCOBOD of failing in their responsibility to reimburse the LBCs, many of which borrowed from banks and off-taker traders to pre-finance cocoa purchases. He rejected COCOBOD’s claims that sufficient funds had been released to support cocoa purchases, calling them misleading.
“The reality is that farmers have not been paid for cocoa sold to the Mahama-led NDC government since November last year,” he stated.
He painted a grim picture of the human impact of the delays, recounting cases of farmers unable to afford medication, pay school fees, or care for sick family members.
