My first post in the new year reports some good news for Ghanaian cocoa farmers. On January 8, Ghana’s Cocoa Board increased producer prices from G¢2208 ($1,530) to G¢2400 (1,663) per ton.
Ghana Eyes Record Crop for 2009-10
Several reports quote cocoa traders in Ghana who predict a record crop in the current cocoa year. Ali Basma, managing director of Akuafo Adamfo Marketing Company, one of the largest cocoa buyers in the country, predicted that the crop could reach 800,000 tons this year. The head of the COCOBOD, Ghana’s cocoa board, was not as sanguine about the prospects and predicted only that this year’s crop will match the 703,000 tons produced during the last year. Timely deliveries of pesticides and fungicides and less rain are key conditions to keep black pod disease at bay. Black pod disease poses the most serious threat to Ghana and its neighbor’s cocoa crops.
