Ghana thinks that cocoa production will rise again in 2024–25

Farmers, buyers, and officials from the governing group Cocobod all say that Ghana’s cocoa production will rise again during the 2024–25 crop season. This is because the weather will be good.

There are still risks, though, from things like illegal gold mining, smuggling, and illness.

More than 20 years ago, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer had an output that was less than 55% of its normal yearly output. This happened in June.

Similar problems in neighboring Ivory Coast, which grows more cocoa than any other country in the world, have led to a four-year supply shortage in the global cocoa market, which has caused record-high prices for chocolate’s main ingredient.

The International Cocoa Organization says that production will be around 500,000 tons in 2024/25, but Ghana now thinks it will rise to 650,000 tons.

More than 20 cocoa farmers, Cocobod officials, and local buyers told Reuters that farms have better pods than last season because of more rain and sunshine and using fertilizers and pesticides at the right time.

In the southeast of Ghana, Abdul-Majid Mumuni is in charge of Cocobod’s cocoa health and extension section. He said, “The crop is amazing; the trees are productive, and you can count at least 50 pods per tree.”

This season began in September on Ocran Christopher’s over 72-hectare farm in Ghana’s southeastern Asamankese district, and they’ve already harvested 500 bags. This is less than the 820 bags they gathered the whole 2023–24 season.

“If things remain like this, we can harvest 2,000-2,500 bags,” he stated.

Officials from Cocobod said that they’ve seen more cocoa arrivals this season, but they are being careful because the season is still new.

Even though things looked good, farmers were still worried about the possible spread of black pod disease and the fact that bean theft was still going on. Officials from Cocobod say that theft cost Ghana more than a third of its cocoa production in 2023–24.

In response, the government has raised the farmgate price by almost 45% for this season and changed the long-standing cocoa loan syndication system with a new funding model that requires traders around the world to pay in advance for some cocoa bean shipments.

The new plan is meant to stop bean trafficking, but farmers and buyers had mixed feelings about it. A district manager at a registered cocoa buyer in Ghana said that the new model’s small amount of funds could make purchases take longer and lead to more smuggling.