Cocoa production in Ghana

Cocoa is the chief agricultural export of Ghana and

Ghana's main cash crop.[1] Ghana is the second largest
cocoa exporter in the world, after Ivory Coast.[2]
Ghana's cocoa cultivation, however, is noted within
the developing world to be one of the most modelled
commodities and valuables.[3]

Cocoa production occurs in the country's forested

areas: Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central Region, Eastern
Region, Western Region, and Volta, where rainfall is
1,000–1,500 millimeters per year.[4][5] The crop year
begins in October, when purchases of the main crop
begin, with a smaller mid-crop cycle beginning in Harvest processing of cocoa beans in Ghana in
July.[6] the 20th century

All cocoa, except that which is smuggled out of the

country, is sold at fixed prices to the Cocoa Marketing Board.[7] Although most cocoa production is carried
out by peasant farmers on plots of less than three hectares, a small number of farmers appear to dominate
the trade. Some studies show that about one-fourth of all cocoa farmers receive just over half of total cocoa
income.[6]

With some two million children involved in the farming of cocoa in West Africa, primarily Ghana and
Ivory Coast, child slavery and trafficking were major concerns in 2018.[8][9] However, international
attempts to improve conditions for children were failing because of persistent poverty, absence of schools,
increasing world cocoa demand, more intensive farming of cocoa, and continued exploitation of child
labour.[8][10]

The government shifted responsibility for crop transport to the private sector. Subsidies for production
inputs (fertilisers, insecticides, fungicides, and equipment) were removed, and there was a measure of
privatization of the processing sector through at least one joint venture.[11] A new payment system known
as the Akuafo Check System was introduced in 1982 at the point of purchase of dried beans. Formerly,
produce buying clerks had often held back cash payments, abused funds, and paid farmers with false
checks. Under the Akuafo system, a farmer was given a check signed by the produce clerk and the
treasurer that he could cash at a bank of his choice.[12][13]

Plantation divestiture proceeded slowly, with only seven of fifty-two plantations sold by the end of 1990.
Although Ghana was the world's largest cocoa producer in the early 1960s, by the early 1980s production
had dwindled almost to the point of insignificance. The drop from an average of more than 450,000 tons
per year to a low of 159,000 tons in 1983–84 has been attributed to aging trees, widespread disease, bad
weather, and low producer prices.[14] In addition, bush fires in 1983 destroyed some 60,000 hectares of
cocoa farms, so that the 1983–84 crop was barely 28 per cent of the 557,000 tons recorded in 1964–65.
Output then recovered to 228,000 tons in 1986–87. Revised figures show that production amounted to
301,000 tons in 1988–89, 293,000 tons in 1990–91, and 305,000 tons in 1992–93. After declining to
255,000 tons in 1993–94, the crop was projected to return to the 300,000-ton range in 1994–95.[6]
In the early 1990s, Cocobod continued to liberalize and to privatize cocoa marketing. The board raised
prices to producers and introduced a new system providing greater incentives for private traders. In
particular, Cocobod agreed to pay traders a minimum producer price as well as an additional fee to cover
the buyers' operating and transportation costs and to provide some profit. Cocobod still handled overseas
shipment and export of cocoa to ensure quality control.[6][15]

In addition to instituting marketing reforms, the government also attempted to restructure cocoa production.
In 1983 farmers were provided with seedlings to replace trees lost in the drought and trees more than thirty
years old (about one-fourth of the total number of trees in 1984). Until the early 1990s, an estimated 40
hectares continued to be added to the total area of 800,000 hectares under cocoa production each year.[16]
In addition, a major programme to upgrade existing roads and to construct 3,000 kilometers of new feeder
roads was launched to ease the transportation and sale of cocoa from some of the more neglected but very
fertile growing areas on the border with Ivory Coast.[17] Furthermore, the government tried to increase
Ghana's productivity from 300 kilograms per hectare to compete with Southeast Asian productivity of
almost 1,000 kilograms per hectare. New emphasis was placed on extension services, drought and disease
research, and the use of fertilisers and insecticides. The results of these measures were to be seen in rising
cocoa production from the 1990s to the present.[6]

Contents
Recent growth
Hybrid system of liberalization
Child labour
Impacts on environment
Cocoa and forests initiative
See also
External links
References

Recent growth
Ghana's cocoa production grew an average of 16 per cent
between 2000 and 2003.[18] Cocoa has a long production cycle,
far longer than many other tropical crops, and new hybrid
varieties need over five years to come into production, and a
further 10 to 15 years for the tree to reach its full bearing
potential. The reasons for this huge production increase are
varied and in fact Ghana's cocoa yields per hectare are still low
by international standards.[18] Researchers at the Overseas
Cocoa beans and cocoa harvest
Development Institute identify the following as particularly
processing
important:[18]

1. Land
2. Labour
3. Fertiliser
4. Insecticide
 5. Agricultural equipment
6. Western Sefwi (suggesting smuggling from processing Ivory Coast)
7. Rainfall
8. Cocoa farmer
9. Use of spraying machine

This study also suggests that the most important factors in the increased proan are:[18]

New land brought under cultivation

More intensive use of household labour
A good rainfall pattern
Effectiveness of farm spraying and increased fertiliser use

This study suggests that Ghana's cocoa farmers are not making the best use of technological innovations in
their production and instead their increased production is not sustainable.[18] Bringing new land under
cultivation is risky, as much of the land was previously forest and after a short period and without adequate
attention this land may be exhausted. Intensive use of labour has led to high increases in the cost of labour
and may impact profitability, and high rainfall is only periodic.[18]
Cocoa serves as a major source of living
for most people in Ghana. In the rural areas, most adults are farmers and have plantation farms which
provide them with an income. In recent years, the production of Cocoa in Ghana has increased
tremendously due to the fact that, the government has provided the agricultural industry in Ghana with
incentives which has boosted the interest of young adults to expand their farms and plant more cocoa. The
world market have increased the prices of cocoa so it has served as a major source of revenue for the
people in Ghana who cultivate cocoa.

Hybrid system of liberalization

Ghana Cocoa Board's experimentation with privatization has
created a hybrid system whereby despite all exports being
controlled by the state, there are now around 25 private companies
buying the crop in all areas of the country where it is grown.[19]
After 14 years, the successes and failures of this hybrid system
have been the subject of a study by researchers at the Overseas
Development Institute. Competition was clearly found to have
increased production levels throughout the country, yet access to
credit remained one of the most important factors determining the
Sunyani Cocoa House in Sunyani,
level of competition. Farmers rarely made the most of all the
Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana
available options to sell their crop (often they only made use of
one).[19]

Their choice was based on the ability of a company to pay promptly in cash and thus there were only five
major players on the market: PBC (formerly state-owned), Kuapa Kokoo (a hugely successful farmers-
based cooperative working on fair trade principle), Adwumapa (a Ghanaian buying company), Olam and
Armajaro (both foreign-owned companies, from Singapore and the UK respectively).[19] Another key
determining factor is the distance of the plantation from the main market, as more remote farms more often
found it easier to sell to the formerly state-owned PBC.[19]

This hybrid scheme benefits a variety of players:[19]

 The state, which maintains a monopoly on all exports and makes a substantially higher
return from taxation than other cocoa regions;
The traders, who compete for the purchase of higher volumes of the export crop on non-price
terms throughout the cocoa belt areas; and
The farmers, who are guaranteed a minimum floor price regardless of their geographical
location.

Researchers at the ODI therefore suggest that liberalization has been good for producers by:[19]

1. providing farmers with more choice of buyers;

2. delivering cash payments promptly; and
3. maintaining stability in producer prices throughout the season.

Yet the question remains for policy-makers as to the benefits of the state controlling an export monopoly
and its strong presence of the public sector in the internal market, whether there should be even more
liberalization, and whether it is providing the right incentives for producers to develop better (and
sustainable) farming practices.[19]

Child labour
A major study of the issue in 2016, published in Fortune Magazine in the U.S., concluded that
approximately 2.1 million children in various countries of West Africa "still do the dangerous and
physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa". The report was doubtful as to whether the situation can be
improved.

The article provided this comment: "According to the 2015 edition of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial
report examining the economics of cocoa that’s published by a consortium of nonprofits, the average farmer
in Ghana in the 2013–14 growing season made just 84¢ per day, and farmers in Ivory Coast a mere 50¢.
That puts them well below the World Bank’s new $1.90 per day standard for extreme poverty, even if you
factor in the 13% rise in the price of cocoa last year. And in that context the challenge of eradicating child
labor feels immense, and the chocolate companies’ newfound commitment to expanding the investments in
cocoa communities not quite sufficient. ... 'Best-case scenario, we’re only doing 10% of what’s needed.'
Getting that other 90% won’t be easy. 'It’s such a colossal issue,' says Sona Ebai, the former secretary
general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries. 'I think child labor cannot be just the responsibility
of industry to solve. I think it’s the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, civil society, the private
sector.'He pauses, taking in his own thought for a moment. 'And there, you really need leadership.'"[20]

In April 2018, the Cocoa Barometer 2018 report on the $100-billion industry, said this about the child
labour situation: "Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sector-wide objective
of the elimination of child labour, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labour
by 2020". A report later that year by New Food Economy stated that the Child Labour Monitoring and
Remediation Systems implemented by the International Cocoa Initiative and its partners has been useful,
but "they are currently reaching less than 20 percent of the over two million children impacted".[21]

Impacts on environment
According to the Ghana Forestry Commission, a Ghana government agency, almost 80 per cent of Ghana's
forest resources were lost to illegal logging operation between 1990 and 2016. While this loss cannot be
entirely attributed to cocoa production, cocoa production is a leading cause of deforestation in Ghana.
Global Forest Watch (GFW), using advanced remote sensing and satellite data, estimated that there was a
60 per cent increase in primary rainforest loss from 2017 to 2018, the largest increase of any country in the
world. Neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire had a 28 per cent increase, which was the second largest increase in this
time period. Together, these two countries produce roughly two-thirds of the world's cocoa, and much of
this forest loss is due to cocoa production, both legal and illegal.[22]

Cocoa and forests initiative

The Cocoa and Forests Initiative is an agreement reached between the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and
Ghana, and more than thirty-seven major cocoa and chocolate companies. The purpose of the initiative is to
end deforestation and replenish the trees and forests that have been destroyed as a result of the cocoa
production in the area. Between 1988 and 2007, more than 2.3 million hectares of rainforest in Côte
d’Ivoire and Ghana were cleared for cocoa farms. The initiative was announced at the UN Climate Change
Conference in November 2017. One of the central tenets of the initiative is a commitment to no further
conversion of natural forests to land for cocoa production in West Africa.

In March 2019, the governments of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in tandem with the cocoa companies released
action plans that laid out concrete steps for ending deforestation. These steps include forest protection and
restoration, sustainable cocoa production with an emphasis on the livelihood of farmers, and a system of
social inclusion and community engagement.[23]

See also
Agriculture in Ghana

External links
Country Studies
Ghana Cocoa Board
Child labour in cocoa production

References
1. "Supply Chain Risk Assessment: Cocoa in Ghana" (https://web.archive.org/web/201309251
64851/https://www.agriskmanagementforum.org/doc/supply-chain-risk-assessment-cocoa-g
hana). Forum for Agricultural Risk Management in Development. Archived from the original
(https://www.agriskmanagementforum.org/doc/supply-chain-risk-assessment-cocoa-ghana)
on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
2. "UPDATE 1-Ghana signs $1.2 bln cocoa loan for 2013/14 crop purchases" (https://www.reut
ers.com/article/ghana-cocoa-loan-idUSL5N0HG39B20130920). Reuters. September 20,
2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
3. Bulir 1998, p. 4.
4. Jerryfreshman (14 May 2018). "GHANA COCOA GOLDEN AGRICULTURE" (https://hive.blo
g/entrepreneurship/@jerryfreshman/ghana-cocoa-golden-agriculture). Hive. Retrieved
25 May 2020.
5. "Ghana - Cocoa" (http://countrystudies.us/ghana/78.htm). countrystudies.us. Retrieved
25 May 2020.
 6. Clark, Nancy L. "Agriculture" (and subchapters). A Country Study: Ghana (http://lcweb2.loc.g
ov/frd/cs/ghtoc.html) (La Verle Berry, editor). Library of Congress Federal Research Division
(November 1994). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public
domain.[1] (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/about.html)
7. "Our World - Ghana" (http://www.unitedworld-usa.com/usatoday/ghana/14agriculture.htm).
www.unitedworld-usa.com. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
8. Emiko Terazono (18 April 2018). "Chocolate industry accused of failure on child labour" (http
s://www.ft.com/content/eb58ba84-425f-11e8-803a-295c97e6fd0b). The Financial Times.
Retrieved 8 January 2019.
9. Guilbert, Kieran (12 June 2017). "Falling cocoa prices threaten child labor spike in Ghana,
Ivory Coast" (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-westafrica-cocoa-children/falling-cocoa-pric
es-threaten-child-labor-spike-in-ghana-ivory-coast-idUSKBN1931ZQ). Reuters. Retrieved
7 January 2019.
10. Balch, Oliver (20 June 2018). "Child labour: the true cost of chocolate production" (https://ww
w.raconteur.net/business-innovation/child-labour-cocoa-production). Raconteur. Retrieved
7 January 2019.
11. "Ghana Economy" (https://www.modernghana.com/ghanahome/ghana/economy.asp?menu
_id=6&sub_menu_id=290&menu_id2=13&s=f). www.modernghana.com. Retrieved 25 May
2020.
12. Agyepong, Stephen (February 2018). "Thesis". S2CID 159201535 (https://api.semanticschol
ar.org/CorpusID:159201535).
13. Owusu, Sebastian Kwaku (July 2013). "Identification of the critical points for polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon contamination along the cocoa processing and storage chain in
Ghana" (http://ir.knust.edu.gh/bitstream/123456789/5536/1/MSc%20THESIS%20BY%20S.
K%20OWUSU.pdf) (PDF). KNUST IR. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
14. Mulangu, Francis (August 2015). "Thesis" (http://www.agrodep.org/sites/default/files/AGRO
DEPWP0014.pdf) (PDF). AGRODEP Working Paper. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
15. Amedofu, Mawuli (October 2009). "Determination of cocoa producer price in Ghana: an
empirical investigation" (http://ir.knust.edu.gh/bitstream/123456789/596/1/THE%20DETERM
INATION%20OF%20COCOA%20PRODUCER%20PRICE%20-AN%20EMPIRICAL%20IN
VESTIGATION%20BY%20MAWULI.pdf) (PDF). KNUST IR. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
16. "Ghana - Cocoa" (http://countrystudies.us/ghana/78.htm). countrystudies.us. Retrieved
26 May 2020.
17. Mortimer, Louis R. (1995) [1971]. Ghana: a country study (http://memory.loc.gov/master/frd/frd
cstdy/gh/ghanacountrystud00berr_0/ghanacountrystud00berr_0.pdf) (PDF). Memory.loc.gov.
US: Headquarters Department of the Army. ISBN 0-8444-0835-2. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
18. Vigneri, Marcella (19 November), Overseas Development Institute. Retrieved 1 October
2021.
19. Vigneri, Marcella, and Paulo Santos (December 2007), "Ghana and the cocoa marketing
dilemma: What has liberalisation without price competition achieved?" (https://cdn.odi.org/m
edia/documents/592.pdf), ODI Project Briefing No. 3, Overseas Development Institute.
Retrieved 1 October 2021.
20. O'Keefe, Brian (1 March 2016). "Behind a bittersweet industry" (http://fortune.com/big-chocol
ate-child-labor/). Fortune.com. Fortune. Retrieved 7 January 2018. "For a decade and a half,
the big chocolate makers have promised to end child labor in their industry—and have spent
tens of millions of dollars in the effort. But as of the latest estimate, 2.1 million West African
children still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa. What will it
take to fix the problem"
21. "Cocoa has a poverty problem. You can help by eating more dark chocolate" (https://newfoo
deconomy.org/chocolate-farmers-ivory-coast-ghana/). New Food Economy. 7 July 2018.
Retrieved 7 July 2018. "In 2001, companies including Mars, Ferrero, the Hershey Company,
Kraft Foods, and Nestlé expressed their collective commitment to combat child labor in
cocoa growing communities in West Africa through their support of the Harkin-Engel
Protocol, an international agreement aimed at reducing the worst forms of child labor in the
cocoa sector in Ivory Coast and Ghana by 70 percent by 2020."
22. Gyamfi Asiedu, Kwasi (10 May 2019). "Ghana is losing its rainforest faster than any other
country in the world" (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/ghana-is-losing-its-rainfores
t-faster-than-any-other-country-in-the-world/). World Economic Forum. Retrieved
17 November 2020.
23. "Cocoa & Forests Initiative" (https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/initiative/cocoa-forests-i
nitiative/). World Cocoa Foundation. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2020.

Bibliography

Bulir, Ales (1 June 1998). The Price Incentive to Smuggle and the Cocoa Supply in Ghana,
1950–96 (https://books.google.com/books?id=DOrko5cnuMIC&pg=PA4). International
Monetary Fund. ISBN 978-1-4518-9707-4.
Salm, Steven J.; Falola, Toyin (1 January 2002). Culture and Customs of Ghana (https://archi
ve.org/details/culturecustomsof00salm). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-
32050-7.

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