Eric Opoku, the Minister-Designate for Food and Agriculture, has revealed that Ghana’s cocoa production has sharply declined, reaching its lowest point in the last two decades.
Speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, January 20, Opoku cited recent reports from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) that highlighted a significant drop in production levels.
According to Opoku, COCOBOD’s transition engagement document indicated that the country’s cocoa production for the season stood at 530,000 metric tonnes.
However, he emphasized that regardless of whether the figure was 430,000 or 530,000 metric tonnes, both numbers reflect a concerning decline.
“Just recently during the transition engagement, COCOBOD submitted a list to us. In that document, they indicated that their production was 530 metric tonnes. In this case, both of you are right. But being it 430 or 530 metric tonnes, both are right. But production has declined and that is the lowest in the last two decades,” he stated.
Opoku further explained that the decline in production has had serious financial consequences, particularly regarding Ghana’s cocoa loan commitments.
He referenced a syndicated loan of $800 million, which was taken to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa. Unfortunately, Ghana was unable to meet the target by the end of the season, leading to a default on the loan.
“On the issues of default, Ghana went to the syndicated market and took a loan of $800 million to purchase 850,000 tonnes of cocoa. At the end of the season, we were unable to produce to meet 850,000 tonnes. We defaulted on the loans.
“They decided to roll over that delivery to this year. The quantity is 374,000 tonnes. This is the figure they gave us during the transition. Now that we have assumed office, we have to look at how to deal with this debt and many other debts in the sector before we can make progress,” he stated.
