GHANA EXPECTS 2024/2025 COCOA PRODUCTION RESURGENCE

Ghana’s cocoa output is projected to rebound in the 2024/25 season, supported by favourable weather, improved rainfall, and better use of fertilisers and pesticides. Farmers and officials from COCOBOD report healthier pods and increased productivity across major cocoa-growing regions. The regulator expects production to recover to around 650,000 tonnes, although the International Cocoa Organization projects about 500,000 tonnes. Farmers note that trees are yielding up to 50 pods each, and some have already surpassed half their previous year’s harvests within the early months of the season. Despite this renewed optimism, challenges persist, including illegal gold mining, black pod disease, and cross-border smuggling, which last year accounted for over one-third of lost output. To address these issues, COCOBOD has raised the farmgate price by nearly 45 percent and introduced a new financing model requiring global buyers to prepay for shipments.