Ghana sets cocoa producer price nearly 75% above Côte d’Ivoire level

Ghana has set its cocoa producer price at 42,400 Ghana cedis per tonne for the 2026/27 main crop season, putting the price paid to farmers significantly above the minimum farmgate price set by neighboring Côte d’Ivoire.

The new Ghanaian price took effect on Sept. 25, when the country officially opened its 2026/27 cocoa season. It represents an increase of about 2.4% from the previous season’s 41,392 cedis per tonne and translates into 2,650 cedis for a 64-kilogramme bag.

According to Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the new price represents 71.18% of the realised gross free-on-board (FOB) value of cocoa. Ghana’s newly enacted Cocoa Board Act 2026 guarantees farmers at least 70% of the realised gross FOB price.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest cocoa producer, the government set the farmgate price for the 2026/27 main crop at 1,200 CFA francs per kilogramme. The season officially opened on Sept. 1.

Using the dollar equivalents cited for the two prices, Ghana’s new producer price is about $3.65 per kilogramme, compared with around $2.07 in Côte d’Ivoire. That represents a difference of roughly 76%.

The gap comes as the two neighbouring cocoa-producing countries use different approaches to determining the prices paid to farmers.

In Ghana, the 2026 pricing framework explicitly links the producer price to the realised gross FOB value. Under the new law, farmers are guaranteed a minimum share of that value, with COCOBOD setting the price after consultations with stakeholders including the Finance Ministry, farmers, licensed buying companies, hauliers and processors.

Côte d’Ivoire’s system is based on forward sales of cocoa. Agriculture Minister Bruno Nabagné Koné said the government’s responsibility was to set the highest price possible based on sales already carried out by the Coffee-Cocoa Council, while ensuring that the price remained financially and budgetarily sustainable.

The difference is significant for farmers in the two countries, which together account for a large share of global cocoa production. Both governments administer producer prices, but the references and mechanisms used to determine those prices are not identical.

The new Ghanaian pricing system is also being introduced alongside broader reforms of the country’s cocoa sector, including measures aimed at improving productivity, strengthening traceability, protecting cocoa farms from illegal mining and increasing domestic value addition.

Ghana has also fully deployed its cocoa traceability system across cocoa-growing areas, according to COCOBOD, as the country prepares for the European Union’s deforestation rules expected to apply to cocoa exports from Dec. 30, 2026.