Minority criticizes new cocoa price as “Sakawa”, calls for immediate reassessment.
The Minority in Parliament has described the newly announced cocoa producer price of GH₵3,228.75 per bag as a betrayal of Ghanaian cocoa farmers, calling it “ridiculous, unfair and completely unacceptable.”
This follows the government’s announcement of a 62.58% increase in the producer price of cocoa, from US$3,100 to US$5,040 per tonne. In Ghana cedis, the price moves from GH₵49,600 to GH₵51,660 per tonne, equivalent to GH₵3,228.75 per 64kg bag.
The new price, approved by the Producer Price Review Committee chaired by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, is scheduled to take effect on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus at a press briefing on Tuesday, August 5, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Food and Agriculture Committee, Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, emphasised that the new price amounts to a “stab in the back” of hardworking farmers who continue to contribute significantly to Ghana’s economy.
Dr. Opoku slammed the government’s pricing decision as comical and shameful.
The caucus warned that such poor remuneration could push cocoa farmers to abandon their farms and lease them to illegal miners, thereby worsening the country’s galamsey crisis and threatening the future of Ghana’s cocoa industry.
“Cocoa farmers deserve far better for their toil and sacrifices for their enormous contribution to the
economy of the country. They cannot be taken for granted all the time. The deception must stop!
“This new farm gate price of GH¢3,228.75 per bag is ridiculous, laughable, comical, absurd, shameful,
unfair and a stab in the back of cocoa farmers. This is complete “sakawa” and unacceptable.
“This new price of GH¢3,228.75 per bag is completely unacceptable and has to be reviewed immediately to motivate our cocoa farmers and prevent the temptation of farmers giving their cocoa farms out to galamsey operators.
“We must safeguard our cocoa industry, protect our farmers’ livelihoods and maintain Ghana’s enviable position in the industry. The government must come again and offer a better price. Cocoa Farmers matter and demand better!! If you cannot spell, you do not write,” he stated.
