The Ghana COCOBOD has made a startling yet disturbing disclosure about how the state’s cocoa production is reeling under the hands of smugglers in the country. The cocoa industry has recently experienced shortfalls in production output mainly due to factors including climactic changes, illegal small scale mining, cocoa farm conversion and smuggling.
Smuggling has become more pronounced lately and according to COCOBOD, Ghana is losing as a much as between 100, 000 to 120, 000 metric tons of cocoa year. Speaking to journalist during a press conference under the auspices of the Ministry of Information on Monday 14th of October, 2024, Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, disclosed the increase in cocoa smuggling cases increased from 2022 till date.
According to him the situation can largely be blamed on price hikes on volatilities on international market. “This has been so because of happenings on the international market” he averred. Explaining the situation, Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo says, the international market spot price could be considered as the key driver buoying the cocoa smuggling syndicate in cocoa producing countries in West Africa, particularly Ghana and Cote d’Iviore.
“Spot market prices are better than the FOB, what we call the Futures. And for us in Ghana, before the price shot up, the spike began last year April, 2023. Before then the price of cocoa at the terminal market was around $2000 – $2200 per ton. Then suddenly there was this spike to about $6000 per ton and by February 2024, the spot price of cocoa was about $12, 000 per ton”, he expatiated when responding to questions posed by journalists.
According to reports, Ghana lost about a third of its total cocoa production output in the 2023/2024 crop season to smuggling. This was partly, per reports, due to delays in payment which pushed some farmers to boycott selling their products to COCOBOD and instead opted to sell to sophisticated trafficking rings. Smuggling rings, which offer farmers higher prices, began to take hold in 2022, when Ghana was at the height of an economic and currency crisis.
The losses recorded by the COCOBOD for the 2023/2024 crop season conservatively hovered about 160, 000 metric tons. However, COCOBOD says it is collaborating with appropriate agencies to nip the situation in the bud.