Ghana has maintained the guaranteed price it pays farmers at $1500 (GH₵7,600) per tonne of cocoa. This price will be enforced for the 2018/19 main crop harvest.
Ghana’s Agriculture Minister, Dr Afriyie Akoto made the announcement in Ghana’s Capital Accra. The announcement was also to climax the country’s cocoa week celebration.
“The 2018/19 cocoa season which starts on Friday, October 5, has been officially announced. The government in consultation with stakeholders has decided to maintain the producer price for cocoa at GH₵7,600 per tonne or GH₵475 per bag of 64 Kilograms (KG),” he said.
The price of cocoa has recently declined by about 40 percent on the global market.
Dr Afriyie Akoto Osei says maintaining these prices will cushion farmers against losses incurred from the declining cocoa prices.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast, the world’s leading producer of cocoa, raised the guaranteed price it pays farmers. It raised it to 750 CFA francs ($1.34) per kilogram for the 2018/19 main crop harvest.
Crop output for the 2018/19 season is expected to be mostly unchanged at slightly under 2 million tonnes, Chairman of Ivory Coast’s Coffee and Cocoa Council Lambert Kouassi Konan said.
The two world largest producers of cocoa announced their prices simultaneously for the first time in a bid to control price and check smuggling of the crop in their respective countries.
Ghana and Ivory Coast currently produce about 60 percent of the global output for cocoa globally.
Source: Africafeeds.com
