This means that a tonne of cocoa, which used to sell at GH¢6,800 in the 2015/2016 crop season, will now sell at GH¢7,600, an increase of GH¢800 per tonne

The new producer price implies that a bag of 64kg of cocoa which used to sell at GH¢425 will now sell at GH¢475, representing 77.45 per cent of the free-on-board (FOB) price.

Announcing the new producer price at the celebration of Cocoa Day at Tepa in the Ashanti Region last Saturday, a Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, said the increase took effect from Saturday, October 1, 2016.

Mr Forson, who is also the Chairman of the Producer Price Review Committee, said the decision was arrived at last Saturday after an extensive discussion, taking into consideration all issues.

He said last year the average FOB price per tonne was $2,900 but had now increased to $ 2,950, representing an upward adjustment of $50 per tonne.

He said the new producer price was higher than the recent increase in price announced by Cote d’Ivoire.

Dr Opuni

The Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, said as part of efforts to improve cocoa productivity, the board distributed 50 million hybrid cocoa seedlings to farmers in 2015, while 60 million seedlings had so far been distributed this year.

He announced that under the productivity enhancement programme geared towards increasing cocoa production by 750,000 tonnes in the next 10 years, 40,000 young people had been attracted and motivated to engage in cocoa farming.

On child labour, Dr Opuni said the board was assisting in the rehabilitation of some schools and the construction of new ones in cocoa-growing communities.