By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila
ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana has delayed the delivery of 370,000 metric tons of cocoa in the 2023/24 season due to poor output, its food and agribusiness minister-designate told a parliamentary committee Monday, up from the 350,000 tons previously reported by Reuters.
The unprecedented move to delay delivery from the previous 2023/24 season to the ongoing season follows a sharp drop in production to a two-decade low, Eric Opoku said during his vetting process in parliament.
Reuters reported in June that Ghana, the world’s No.2 cocoa producer, was looking to delay the delivery of up to 350,000 tons of cocoa beans to the following season due to poor crops.
Cocoa production in the West African country peaked in 2021, with output of over 1 million tons of beans. But it has been in rapid decline ever since, hitting its lowest level in decades last season.
Analysts say climate change and tree disease are responsible, while many farmers also blame the government for failing to clamp down on wildcat gold mining that has destroyed large parts of the cocoa heartland.
Opoku said production fell to “the lowest in two decades” in the 2023/24 season, citing production figures of below 550,000 tons provided by the cocoa marketing board (COCOBOD).
He said the poor cocoa output forced Cocobod to default on the repayment of a $800 million loan secured from international lenders to finance cocoa purchases that season.
Cocobod could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Editing by Portia Crowe, David Gregorio and Deepa Babington)
