ACCRA, Sept 16 (Askume) – Ghana could lose up to a third of its 2023/24 cocoa production to smuggling due to low local prices and delayed payments, a senior official at the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board (COCOBOD) told Askume.
Global cocoa and chocolate prices have soared this year as markets have been hit by four years of supply shortages due to poor harvests in Ghana, the world’s second-biggest producer, and Ivory Coast.
But cocoa prices are higher in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo than in Ghana because the currency there, the CFA franc, is more stable and the industry is less regulated.
From the start of the season in September to the end of June, Ghana’s cocoa production was 429,323 tonnes, just under 55% of the average for the same period last season. The 2023/24 production is the highest in more than two decades.
Charles Amanyaglo, director of special services at COCOBOD and head of the commission’s anti-trafficking task force, said the cost of human trafficking would more than triple in 2023/24.
“Conservatively, I would say we lost 160,000 tonnes,” he said, adding that the task force also prevented about 250 tonnes, up from 17 tonnes in 2022/23.
“These figures are worrying,” said Abubakar Omaye, secretary general of the Ghana Cocoa and Coffee Growers Association.
While more than a dozen people have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to 10 years for human trafficking this year, Amanyaglo said the Ghanaian army would soon be deployed to tackle traffickers.
Tank trucks, drum and dump trucks
In 2022, when Ghana was at the height of its economic and currency crisis, smuggling syndicates that charged farmers exorbitant fees began to thrive.
Ameniaglo said large quantities of cocoa are being shipped to Togo, Burkina Faso and even Mali.
“We saw cocoa in dump trucks filled with mineral chips and in barrels disguised as palm oil,” he said. “We saw cocoa being transported on pontoon boats… But the most shocking thing was when we saw a tanker full of cocoa. The ‘Do Not Tamper’ seal was still open.”
Cocobod failed to pay for its coffee beans on time this season due to problems with the syndicated loan used for the purchase .
Samuel Adamado, chairman of the Ghana Cocoa Buyers Group, said: “It comes back to the issue of funding… if we maintain liquidity and initiative in the sector, smuggling can be curbed.”
Ghana’s 2024/25 season began earlier than usual, with a new financing model implemented and farmgate prices rising by 45%.
Farmers hope the changes will curb smuggling, although they fear a weak currency will prevent prices from rising.
“We are investing a lot more in increasing cocoa production in Ghana rather than allowing the cocoa industry to flourish in Togo or Cote d’Ivoire,” Amanyaglo said.
