have fallen dramatically, dropping by 49% to US$599.3 million in the first four months of the year compared to the same period last year, according to the Bank of Ghana.
Various factors have been cited for the declining cocoa production in Ghana. A statement from the Ghana Cocoa Board on January 12, 2024, highlighted"unbridled and unmitigated age-old challenge of cocoa smuggling to neighboring Cote d'Ivoire and Togo" and the rampant threat of illegal small-scale mining as significant issues. These activities have wreaked havoc on Ghana's cocoa landscape and drastically reduced revenue from cocoa trade, the statement noted.
High input costs, particularly for fertilizers that were previously supplied to farmers for free, are another contributing factor. Kwame, a cocoa farmer in Asutware, recalls simpler times when a bag of fertilizer cost around 200 cedis. Today, due to global shortages and a weakening cedi, the same bag costs 280 cedis--a 40% increase. This rise in input costs cuts into profits, making farmers anxious about future harvests.
"The exchange rate pressures witnessed in recent weeks reflect a weakening of the current account surplus, due to higher import demand and lower export revenue, especially a sharp fall in cocoa export earnings," Dr. Ernest Addison stated at a post-Monetary Policy Committee press conference on Monday, May 27, Central Bank Governor.
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