Ghana, the world's second largest cocoa grower after Cote d'Ivoire, has seen production drop sharply over the past two years due to multiple pressures facing its 800,000 farming families.
The cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD) and cocoa black pod disease have been threatening production in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in recent years, leading to shortfalls in the international market.
CSSVD is a plant pathogenic virus of the family Caulimoviridae that primarily infects cacao trees. It decreases cacao yield within the first year of infection, and usually kills the tree within a few years.
CSSVD has wiped out over 500,000 hectares of cocoa farms in Ghana, said Joseph Boahen Aidoo, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), a government-controlled institution, in February.
In addition to the diseases, Aidoo said that illegal mining and climate change have also impacted the cocoa industry negatively, worsening the decline in cocoa production and threatening the livelihoods of farmers.
"We are experiencing dry weather and intense heat, which are not favorable for crop production. Pest and diseases are also ravaging the cocoa farms," explained Aboagye Ntow, a cocoa farmer from Accra.
Last year, Ghana fell short of its target to produce 950,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, with approximately 150,000 tonnes lost due to diseases and the destruction of cocoa farms by illegal miners.
The cocoa regulatory body initially projected a production of around 820,000 tonnes for the 2023-2024 crop season. However, it had to revise this figure down by 40 percent to 500,000 tonnes.
As both Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire experience low crop yields, global cocoa prices have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.
"Inflation has reached a level that we least expected, and the general cost of living went up. But it is within this period that, unfortunately, the price of cocoa is on the increase, so it's better late than never. What we need to do is to look at what is the most threat to cocoa production into the future," said Edward Karaweh, General Secretary of Ghana Agriculture Workers Union.
Cote d'Ivoire responded to the surge in global cocoa prices by increasing its farm gate price, the price at which it directly purchases beans from local farmers, by 100 percent.
Ghana's cocoa industry regulator late Friday announced a 58.2 percent hike in the producer price of cocoa for farmers with immediate effect.
In a press release, COCOBOD said the new price for the 2023-2024 crop year increases to 33,120 Ghana cedis (about 2,500 U.S. dollars) per tonne from 20,926 cedis (over 1,500 U.S. dollars) per tonne last September.
Cocoa production plummets in Ghana due to disease, climate impacts
