Concerned cocoa farmers in the Ahafo Ano South West District of the Ashanti Region have called for the immediate depoliticisation of Ghana’s cocoa industry following controversy over the recent downward adjustment of the producer price.

The appeal comes amid heightened political exchanges between the government and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has criticised the decision to reduce the farmgate price for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop season.

Effective 12 February 2026, the producer price for a bag of cocoa was revised to GHS 2,587, down from GHS 3,625. Government officials have attributed the reduction to volatility on the international market, where cocoa prices reportedly fell from a late 2025 peak of nearly $7,200 per tonne to about $4,000 in early 2026.

Addressing a press conference at Mankranso, the 2025 National Best Cocoa Farmer and President of the Concerned Farmers, Edward Kwame Yeboah, urged his colleagues to accept the new price in the interest of safeguarding the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Mr. Yeboah emphasised the need for farmers to cooperate with whichever government is in power, cautioning that politicising cocoa pricing decisions could destabilise the industry.

He further noted that, for the first time, the government is paying farmers 90 per cent of the gross Free-on-Board (FOB) price achieved, a measure he said was intended to cushion producers against the impact of global market fluctuations.

The National Best Cocoa Farmer also appealed to the government to expedite the passage of a bill currently before Parliament that would guarantee farmers a minimum of 70 per cent of the gross FOB price.

The proposed legislation seeks to move the industry away from fixed annual pricing toward a more flexible system of automatic adjustments tied to global market trends and exchange rate movements.