By Benjamin Nii Nai Anyetei
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has revealed that international buyers are increasingly avoiding Ghanaian cocoa due to higher prices compared with beans from other producing countries.
Speaking at a media briefing, COCOBOD Chief Executive Officer Dr. Randy Abbey explained that the price differential has influenced purchasing decisions, with some buyers opting for cheaper alternatives elsewhere.
“The buyers now find our beans as too expensive, and therefore they have shifted to other markets where they can get the beans far cheaper, because these are business decisions,” he said.
According to him, this situation has affected the marketing of a portion of Ghana’s cocoa crop under the current financing arrangement. COCOBOD has sold more than 530,000 metric tonnes of cocoa, but close to 50,000 metric tonnes remain unsold.
Dr. Abbey noted that the unsold cocoa could also be linked to payment delays affecting some farmers, as beans that have not been sold are more likely to be among those for which payments are outstanding.
He assured that COCOBOD is actively engaging stakeholders to address the pricing challenge and secure buyers for the remaining stock, while working to minimize the impact on farmers and the wider cocoa sector.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that COCOBOD is exploring a new funding model for cocoa purchases, with a strong focus on promoting value addition rather than continuing the heavy reliance on exporting raw cocoa beans.
“We are looking at a model that does not tie hands with respect to the collateralisation of the raw bean, because we want a funding model that also facilitates or supports value addition,” he said.
Discussions on the new funding approach are ongoing, and he assured that full details would be made public once a final decision is taken.
“The full details will be made known, but obviously, this is on top of the agenda,” he added.
