The Managing Director of the Cocoa Marketing Company, (Gh) Dr. Wisdom Kofi Dogbey has noted that ,the government's announcement of a new producer price of cocoa of GH¢ 3,625 per 64kg bag of cocoa, effective 3rd October, 2025 will help curb the smuggling of the product across our borders.
"This new price, coupled with other security enhancements should help address smuggling of Ghana's cocoa across the borders''.
He added that the President, John Dramani Mahama is also committed to safeguarding the Ghanaian farmer's income, whilst taking the necessary steps to address smuggling of cocoa.
He was speaking during an interview in Accra, after the government's announcement of the new cocoa producer price, from ¢GH 3,225 to ¢GH 3,625, representing a 12.27 per cent rise over the price announced in August, 2025, promising that CMC will pursue the best market price for the nation,taking into consideration the farmer price and also ensuring that Ghana remains competitive on the global stage, when it comes to cocoa trade.
On the spike of cocoa delivery into warehouses at the beginning of the main crop season,Dr. Dogbey revealed that it is as a corollary of hoarding of cocoa beans in anticipation of producer price increase, noting that the beans that should have come earlier were held at bay and as soon as the producer price was announced, farmers took advantage of the price increase and released the products'.
"We should proceed cautiously in projecting this as a sign of bumper harvest. This crop season, we are forecasting a yield of about 650,000 tonnes. I think the spike in warehouse deliveries is not a true reflection of what this year's crop will be, i believe it is due to hoarding of cocoa beans in anticipation of a producer price increase''.
According to Dr. Dgbey,in bringing value addition to Ghana's raw cocoa beans, transforming the economic landscape of Ghana and leveraging our natural resources, starting from the 2025/2026 cocoa season, with the blessings and support from Cocobod's Board of Directors and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, CMC will work closely with Companies like WAMCO, the Cocoa Processing Company and others to process some small volume of cocoa into semi finished product, hoping to bring in about 500 million United States Dollars.at today's market price into the economy through value addition.
In modernising the cocoa supply chain, he minced no words in revealing that Ccobod and CMC have invested significantly in digital infrastructure, mentioning the Cocoa Management System.(CMS)
"The CMS provides real time traceability from the farm to port, with each bag of cocoa tagged with QR Code, which enables the buyer to confirm origin,the farm identification and also ensure that it is European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) instantly".
Dr. Dogbey opined that buyers can now request a due diligence certificate from CMC that provides information, including cocoa traceability, revealing that a Committee set up to assess the feasibility of the President's 24 hour operating policy has recommended the full implementation of the policy at CMC under the broader Cocobod umbrella, with technological changes, waiting for approval from the leadership of Cocobod for a take off of the policy.
He was upbeat that he will work in collaboration with the workforce of CMC and Cocobod in general, to leave behind a highly trained workforce who will play their part to add value to secure more foreign exchange for Ghana and also to make Cocobod a global leader in the cocoa value chain.
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