Former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu Esq. has strongly criticised the government for the drastic reduction in the cocoa producer price from Ghc 3,625 per bag to Ghc 2,867 per bag, and the narration by some government appointees and political actors that cocoa farmers are happy about the price reduction, describing the statement as a shame and an insult to the Cocoa farmer.
Dr. Kokofou, during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo morning show on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, expressed grave disappointment in the incumbent for failing to live up to their campaign promises during the build-up to the December 7, 2024, elections.
“Farmers believed in accepting the NDC’s promise to pay the cocoa farmers Ghc 6000 per bag during the campaign era, at a time when the then President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, increased the cocoa price per bag to Ghc 3,100.”
Dr. Kokofu’s comments were in reaction to a recent cocoa price reduction announced by the Finance Minister.
The government reduced the producer price of cocoa to GH¢41,392 per tonne and GH¢2,587 per bag for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop season, citing a sharp fall in global market prices and mounting liquidity pressures within the sector.
Announcing the decision at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, February 12, 2026, the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, said the adjustment was necessary to reflect current international price realities while protecting farmers’ incomes as much as possible.
He explained further that the 2025/2026 cocoa season began in August 2025 with a producer price of GH¢51,660 per tonne. At that time, the price was calculated at 70 per cent of a gross free-on-board price of 7,200 US dollars per tonne, using an exchange rate of 10.25 cedis to the dollar.
However, the former EPA boss argued that there has never been a reduction in the Cocoa price when the government announces a new cocoa producer price.
“Never in our history have we reduced our cocoa price by Ghc 1,000. This is unprecedented. You have shown Ghanaians that you cannot be trusted. You have made cocoa farming unattractive to farmers and youth in the cocoa-growing communities,” he stated.
“It is an insult and a shame for anyone to say that the farmers are happy about the reduction in cocoa price”, he argued.
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