Public Affairs Manager of COCOBOD, Noah Amenya, has submitted that the outcry from some cocoa farmers and producers over government’s refusal to increase the cocoa producer price is as a result of the system used in calculating the price.
According to him, there is a system COCOBOD and Government used called FOB sharing; where the cocoa products are bought from the harbour and the producers pay for the shipment and insurance of the products.
The FOB sharing also set the price for which cocoa products are sold a year ahead, thus, buyers place their order with government for the 2018/19 crop season. This was done in the 2017/18.
Therefore, by the time government goes for the syndicated loan, it (government) would have had enough contract from the buyers to deposit for the loan. Usually, government pegs the price at certain price when the products had not been ready.
Speaking to Ekourba Gyasi on Atinka AM Drive, Mr. Amenya noted that government usually does not provide collateral when going for syndicated loan because the contract gotten is a collateral on its own.
And that in 2017/18 when government was selling the 2018/19 cocoa products for the syndicated loan, the price was pegged the FOB at US $ 2200 per metric tons.
The amount was the average FOB government attained for the crop season 2018/19 but the price has dropped down this time round.
Explaining further, the Public Affairs Manager, said the US $2200 was converted to Ghana Cedi at GHC 7600 and after sharing, every farmer got 76% of it as the FOB price being the producer price.
Also, the remaining 24% is used to cover mass cocoa spraying, fertilizer, transporting to warehouses and fumigation.
And that in 2016/17, farmers share of the FOB was 83% of the GHC 7600, even though the FOB sharing dropped from GHC 3000 to 1800. Côte d'Ivoire and other cocoa producing countries reduced their producer prices. Ghana did not.
Ghana |Atinkaonline.com |Patrick Ofoe Nudzi