COCOBOD’s Inefficiencies Driving Decline in Cocoa Production – Kosi Dedey
Engineer and policy analyst, Kosi Dedey, has urged the nation to move beyond partisan politics and confront the systemic inefficiencies within the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which he says are contributing to the steady decline in cocoa production.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, August 6, he underscored that COCOBOD, established with the mandate to coordinate and protect the interests of cocoa farmers, has strayed from its core purpose, a situation he believes demands urgent national attention.
“I think that COCOBOD was established for a certain purpose, which is to coordinate the affairs of the farmers so that Ghana can get value for money. We should not treat this as an issue of politics.
“We should look at the national interest and say, how do we look at COCOBOD and improve the efficiency at COCOBOD? Because it is responsible for what is happening at the moment,” he stated.
Kosi Dedey stressed that the country must adopt a dispassionate and objective approach in addressing the challenges facing COCOBOD, warning that political blame games between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will only worsen the situation.
“It shouldn’t be an issue of NDC or NPP,” he added. “We should dispassionately look at the issue of COCOBOD and how to improve its efficiency.”
His concerns come at a time when Ghana’s cocoa production has seen a notable dip, raising alarm about sustainability in one of the country’s most critical export sectors.
While the government recently announced a new producer price of US$5,040 per tonne for the 2025/2026 season, a 62.58% increase, experts say pricing alone will not resolve the deeper operational issues at COCOBOD.
