Cocoa production faces severe decline, lowest in 20 years :Eric Opoku

Eric Opoku, the Minister-Designate for Food and Agriculture, has revealed that Ghana’s cocoa production has drastically declined, reaching its lowest level in two decades. During his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, January 20, Opoku referred to recent reports from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) that showed a significant drop in production.

Opoku explained that COCOBOD’s transition document indicated that cocoa production for the season was 530,000 metric tonnes. However, he pointed out that regardless of whether the figure was 430,000 or 530,000 metric tonnes, both numbers reflected a concerning decrease. “Recently, during the transition engagement, COCOBOD presented a list to us showing a production of 530 metric tonnes. Both numbers are accurate, but the fact remains that production has declined, marking the lowest level in the last 20 years,” he said.

He further noted that the decline in production has had significant financial repercussions, particularly regarding Ghana’s cocoa loan obligations. Opoku mentioned an $800 million syndicated loan taken to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa, but Ghana fell short of meeting this target by the end of the season, resulting in a loan default.

“On the issue of default, Ghana took an $800 million loan to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa. By the end of the season, we couldn’t meet the target and defaulted. The lenders decided to roll over the delivery to this year, reducing the quantity to 374,000 tonnes. This was the figure provided to us during the transition. Now that we’ve taken office, we must address this debt, along with other sector debts, before making progress,” he added.