Kennedy Osei Nyarko
The Minority in Parliament has urged the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to prioritise the restoration of the 2025/26 guaranteed farm-gate price for cocoa farmers instead of focusing on salary cuts for top management.
The call follows an announcement by COCOBOD that its Executive Management and Senior Staff had taken voluntary salary reductions in response to liquidity challenges within the cocoa sector.
In a statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer, Randy Abbey, COCOBOD disclosed that Executive Management would take a 20 percent pay cut, while Senior Staff would accept a 10 percent reduction for the remainder of the 2025/26 crop year. The measure took effect on Monday, February 16.
But the Minority insists that the real concern for farmers is not the internal remuneration structure of COCOBOD, but the reduction in the guaranteed producer price.
Member of Parliament for Akim Swedru, Kennedy Osei Nyarko, said farmers are more worried about the income they receive for their cocoa beans than the salaries of officials at the cocoa regulator.
“Farmers are not interested in the pay cut of the top management of COCOBOD. All they care about is the restoration of their 2025/26 guaranteed farm-gate price,” he stated in a post on social media.
According to him, the government can pursue any internal reforms it deems necessary within COCOBOD, but such measures would not immediately address the financial strain on cocoa farmers unless the producer price is reviewed upward.
He argued that leadership in the cocoa sector should focus first on protecting farmers’ incomes, especially given the sector’s central role in supporting rural livelihoods and contributing to foreign exchange earnings.
Drawing historical comparisons, Mr. Osei Nyarko cited the COVID-19 pandemic period, noting that despite global supply chain disruptions and economic uncertainty at the time, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government did not reduce the farm-gate price of cocoa.
He further referenced 2001, when global cocoa prices had reportedly crashed. According to him, the government then increased the producer price by 35 percent, a decision he said revived confidence in the industry.
“In 2001, when the NPP took over governance, the world market price of cocoa had crashed, yet President Kufuor went ahead and increased the producer price for farmers,” he said, describing the move as decisive leadership that helped stabilise the sector.
The Minority maintains that while cost rationalisation at COCOBOD may be necessary, restoring the guaranteed price for farmers should be the immediate priority.
By Ernest Kofi Adu