WHY COCOA FARMERS HAVEN’T BEEN PAID: TMG Research and Investigative Desk Exposes GH¢33 Billion “Shell Game”
While the world craves chocolate, the men and women who grow the beans are starving for cash. A scathing analysis by the TMG Research and Investigative Desk (TMG-RID) has pulled back the curtain on why the pockets of Ghana’s cocoa farmers are empty despite record-breaking global prices.
The investigation reveals that the cocoa sector isn’t just “short on cash,” it is drowning in a GH¢32.91 billion ocean of debt and financial mismanagement that critics are calling a “national disgrace.”
The “Phantom” Billions
The most controversial finding from TMG-RID’s analysis is the “Cocoa Road” Scandal. While farmers waited for their payments, COCOBOD was busy playing contractor. The board signed off on road contracts worth GH¢26 billion, money that was never meant for farming.
Essentially, COCOBOD used the farmers’ sweat as collateral to build roads, many of which remain unfinished or exist only on paper. Now, the interest on these “political roads” is swallowing the money meant for the Producer Price Fund.
The $1 Billion Blunder
The TMG-RID Investigative Desk highlights a catastrophic trading error that has cost the nation nearly $1 billion. COCOBOD sold 330,000 tonnes of cocoa in “forward contracts” at a measly $2,600 per tonne.
When global prices rocketed to $10,000, COCOBOD couldn’t deliver the beans because of Galamsey and disease. To save face with international buyers, they are now using this year’s cocoa to pay off last year’s cheap debt. The result? The “Big Boss” is selling premium gold for the price of lead, leaving zero balance to pay the farmer in the village.
The Jute Sack & Fertilizer “Racket”
TMG-RID’s RTI requests have flagged suspicious procurement patterns. While COCOBOD claimed it had no money to pay farmers, it reportedly spent $48 million on new jute sacks and millions more on fertilizers that often end up in the hands of smugglers rather than the intended farmers.
The “Banks Are Scared” Factor
For 32 years, Ghana relied on the Syndicated Loan, a massive yearly injection of dollars from foreign banks. In a move that sent shockwaves through the industry, those banks have effectively blacklisted COCOBOD. They no longer believe the board is “creditworthy.”
Without this loan, the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs), the middlemen have no “seed money.” They are currently sitting on a GH¢10.1 billion debt from COCOBOD. If the middleman isn’t paid, the farmer doesn’t see a pesewa.
The Verdict
The TMG-RID analysis concludes that the unpaid farmer is not a victim of “bad luck” or “global markets.” They are a victim of institutional overreach. COCOBOD tried to be a road constructor, a bank, and a politician all at once, and in the process, they broke the back of the Ghanaian farmer.
As farmers in the Western and Ashanti regions begin to look toward Galamsey as a more reliable source of income than cocoa, the question remains: How much longer can Ghana survive on a crop it refuses to pay for?
