Africa-Press – Ghana. The Government on Thursday ordered the immediate payment of all arrears owed cocoa farmers to bring them some relief.
Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minister of Finance, at a press briefing in Accra, said the directive came on the back of an emergency Cabinet meeting convened on Wednesday, February 11, to address the current challenges facing the cocoa sector.
These include non-payment of cocoa farmers who, in the past few days, had been pressing on the government to honour its payments obligations.
The Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association has been spearheading calls for the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to pay farmers without further delay, as some had not received payments since November 2025.
“To bring relief to unpaid cocoa farmers, the Cabinet has accordingly directed the Ghana Cocoa Board to commence immediate payment of all affected cocoa farmers,” the Finance Minister said.
Responding to a question by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the ability of the COCOBOD to pay farmers, because of its financial status, Dr Forson said: “COCOBOD is in the position to pay cocoa farmers, so, there’s no cause for alarm.”
He explained that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) would not shoulder the payment of farmers, saying, “the Central Bank does not buy the cocoa, it’s COCOBOD that buys cocoa.”
Dr Forson said Cabinet had also decided on reforms to guarantee a fair price to cocoa farmers, secure the financial viability of the sector and ensure the long-term sustainability of the cocoa industry.
“To address the indebtedness inherited by the current management of Ghana’s cocoa, Cabinet has further directed that the Minister responsible for finance himself to urgently seek parliamentary approval,” he stated.
The Finance Minister reiterated the crucial importance of cocoa as the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy, pledging the government’s resolve to protecting the interests of the farmer and the entire sector.
Touching on the other reforms, Dr Forson said the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC) had recommended that the farmer be paid 90 per cent of the achieved gross Free-on-Board price of US$4,200 per tonne.
“A new cocoa board bill will be presented to Parliament to implement an automatic adjustment of the producer price to align with movement in the world market price, estuarine rate and other key priorities, and guarantee a minimum of 70 per cent of the gross level price to be paid to the cocoa farmer,” the Finance Minister noted.
He announced that the State-owned Produce Buying Company (PBC) would be revived to resume full operations, positioning it as the leading licensed buying company in the cocoa sector.
“With the new financing model, cocoa board can sell beans of any volume to local processing companies to promote value addition and job creation,” he said, noting that Cabinet has directed that with immediate effect, the remainder of the beans for the crop year 2025-2026 be allocated for domestic processing.
Speaking with the GNA following the press briefing, Nana Osei Adusa, the Ahafo Regional Chief farmer, welcomed the call for immediate payment of all arrears owed the farmers.
“This will make farmers buy food for their children, buy some clothes for their families, and reduce the hardship that we face. This will also boost our morale to farm,” he said, and urged the Government not to default on its payment obligations going forward.
