The Minister-Designate for Agriculture, Eric Opoku has raised concerns about declining cocoa production and mounting debt challenges in Ghana’s cocoa sector.
During his vetting before Parliament yesterday, he described the situation as critical, citing production shortfalls and loan defaults that have significantly impacted the industry.
Eric Opoku revealed that data from COCOBOD, Ghana’s cocoa regulatory body, showed a production figure of 530,000 metric tonnes for the previous season, marking the lowest output in two decades, which represents a significant decline from the sector’s previous performance.
“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 be it 430 or 530 metric tonnes, both are right. But production has declined, and that is the lowest in the last two decades,” Opoku noted.
He further highlighted a critical financial challenge resulting from a syndicated loan of $800 million secured to purchase 850,000 metric tons of cocoa. Ghana was unable to meet its production target, resulting in a default on the loan.
“At the end of the season, we were unable to produce to meet 850,000 metric tons. We defaulted on the loans,” he said.
According to Opoku, the shortfall has led to a rollover of undelivered cocoa, amounting to 374,000 metric tons, into the current production year. This debt, along with other financial obligations in the cocoa sector, presents a significant hurdle for the new administration.
“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.”.
