According to the NDC MPs, the farmers deserve some more as the price for the product on the international market had surged to a record high of about $3,600 per metric tonne as of August 31, 2023.

They argued that the govern­ment was ripping off the cocoa farmers instead of doing them good for their hard work.

In a press statement issued by the NDC MPs signed by its Deputy Ranking on Parliament’s Food and Agriculture Commit­tee, Dr Seidu Jasaw, they insisted that the farmers would be worse off with the new price.

“The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/ NPP government has once again shortchanged Ghanaian cocoa farmers. The announced incre­ment in the farmgate price of cocoa to GH¢1,308 is a total rip-off as cocoa farmers will contin­ue to remain worse off than they were seven years ago under the NDC/Mahama government,” the statement said.

The spot price of cocoa on the international market has surged to a record-high of about $3,600 per metric tonne as of August 31, 2023. This price is the highest since 1977- that is, in the last 46 years,” an excerpt of their press release said.

Speaking at an event in Tepa, President Akufo-Addo acknowl­edged the challenges faced by co­coa farmers due to low interna­tional cocoa prices, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite these difficulties, he mentioned that COCOBOD and the government have decided to raise the producer price of cocoa.

The President explained that cocoa prices had increased from GH¢7,600 per tonne in 2016 to GH¢12,800 per tonne in 2022, a substantial 68 per cent increase.

He stated that the government had further raised cocoa prices from GH¢12,800 per tonne to GH¢20,943 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢1,308 per bag. This new price represents 70.5 per cent of the Gross FoB price and is equal to $1,821 per tonne.