• Ghana raises cocoa farmgate price 12.3% to $4.60/kg
• Move follows Côte d’Ivoire’s record $5.00/kg price hike
• Aims to boost output, curb cross-border smuggling losses

Ghana has raised the minimum farmgate price for cocoa in the 2025/2026 main crop season to 58,000 cedis ($4,628) per metric ton, or $4.60 per kilogram, effective Friday, October 3, 2025. The Ministry of Finance announced the measure in a communique on October 2.

The new price marks a 12.3% increase from the previous minimum of 51,660 cedis, set at the start of the season in August. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said the revision is intended to strengthen the financial position of cocoa farmers, according to local outlet MyJoyOnline.

Authorities expect the higher rate to encourage farmers to sell their beans through official channels, as the government projects an 8.3% rise in output to 650,000 tons for the season, local media reported.

Response to Ivorian Record Price

The move comes a day after neighboring Côte d’Ivoire opened its 2025/2026 cocoa season with a record farmgate price. Ivorian authorities set the purchase price at 2,800 CFA francs ($5.00) per kilogram, higher than the initially expected 2,500 CFA francs. That represents a 56% jump from the 2023/2024 main season price of 1,800 CFA and a 27% rise over the mid-crop price of 2,200 CFA.

Ghana’s increase reflects an effort to narrow the price gap with Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, and curb cross-border smuggling.

During the 2023/2024 season, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) estimated the loss of nearly 160,000 tons of beans to smuggling into Côte d’Ivoire and other neighbors. Analysts have linked this illicit trade to Ghana’s weak export performance in 2024, when cocoa revenues fell 21% to $1.69 billion, according to Bank of Ghana data.

Stéphanas Assocle