By Alex Ababio
Across Ghana’s cocoa-producing regions, a grave anxiety has taken root among smallholder farmers. Beans harvested months ago remain unpaid, cash for farm inputs is running dry, and in some communities entire cocoa parcels have been traded for quick cash to illegal miners. What began as scattered complaints has now snowballed into a crisis threatening the heart of Ghana’s cocoa economy — a sector that generates crucial foreign exchange and supports millions of livelihoods.
The Ground Reality: Months Without Pay
In villages stretching from Sefwi-Wiawso to Tarkwa, farmers report they have not received payment for cocoa sold to produce buying clerks since November 2025. “It’s not just coins or bills we talk about — this is our ability to feed our families and manage our farms,” said K. Badu, a farmer from one such community speaking to Nhyira FM’s Kuro Yi Mu Nsem programme. He estimates that about 30% of cocoa delivered remains unpaid, a situation that has forced “many farmers to sell their farms to illegal gold miners due to financial struggles.”
Badu’s testimony is echoed in other regions. A recent monitoring report by CocoaIntel concluded that “farmers are under acute pressure, unable to meet basic household needs, let alone invest in the next cropping season.” Many growers say they had to forego traditional seasonal festivities and essential supplies because of the payment delay.
“It’s not just a few weeks — this is months, and counting,” commented Stevenson Anane Boateng, President of the Ghana National Association of Cocoa Farmers (GNACOF) in an interview with local media. “Farmers are still asking: if our beans have been accepted, why are we still waiting for payment after all this time?”
Cocoa Payments: Who’s Responsible? COCOBOD’s Position
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the state regulator responsible for overseeing the sector, insists it is not ignoring the complaints — but its explanation has only added to farmers’ frustration.
On Kuro Yi Mu Nsem, Jerome Sam, COCOBOD’s Head of Public Affairs, said the board was “surprised cocoa farmers are complaining about non-payment,” claiming that “all Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) that sold cocoa to offtakers with COCOBOD contracts received their payments.”
COCOBOD explains that it does not buy cocoa beans directly from farmers. Instead, international traders — the so-called offtakers — provide financing, which COCOBOD channels to LBCs for cocoa purchases. Sam suggested the payment delays that farmers experience likely stem from LBCs that do not have foreign offtakers and must rely on their own finances, which can slow down settlements.
In a related reassurance to the press, COCOBOD also stated that it is “working tirelessly with our financial partners to resolve this matter swiftly,” indicating ongoing discussions with banks and stakeholders to clear the backlog in funds transfers.
The Structural Finance Breakdown: What’s Really Going On?
Independent analyses suggest COCOBOD’s assurances may underestimate the extent of the crisis. For 32 years, COCOBOD relied on receivables-backed syndicated loans from international banks to pre-finance cocoa purchases — effectively ensuring Licensed Buying Companies had the cash needed to pay farmers promptly each harvest. However, this system has not been used for the last three crop seasons, including 2024/25 and 2025/26, leaving a severe funding gap.
According to financial sector insiders, the absence of syndicated loans has created a liquidity vacuum across the value chain. One industry expert explained:
“Without that ‘seed money’ from syndicated facilities, LBCs have to self-finance. That drains their reserves and delays farmer payments.”
COCOBOD’s new model shifted responsibility for pre-financing to international traders, demanding sizable upfront deposits from them — at least 60% of contract value before cocoa is sold abroad. However, many global buyers have been reluctant to lock in such large advance payments amid declining global prices, creating a backlog and a stockpile of unsold beans.
A recent Reuters report notes that this revised system has left Ghana with mounting unpaid stocks and a reluctance among traders to provide advance financing — a core reason cocoa farmers remain unpaid.
Macro Pressures: Currency and Global Cocoa Markets
External economic factors have made the payment squeeze worse. A strengthening Ghanaian cedi has reduced the local value of export receipts, squeezing COCOBOD’s operational cash flows. In an interview with Food Business Middle East & Africa, COCOBOD Board Chair Dr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo noted that a stronger cedi — while beneficial to consumers — has “placed pressure on COCOBOD’s ability to meet its financial obligations,” affecting loan servicing, input procurement, and, implicitly, cocoa payments.
Meanwhile, global cocoa prices have recently fluctuated sharply, with international rates dropping about 20% this year after a significant fall the previous year — a development that complicates Ghana’s farmgate pricing and export contracts.
Impact on Farmers: Livelihoods at Risk
The consequences on the ground are severe. Farmers without payment cannot buy fertilizers, hire labour, or tend to their farms, increasing the risk of lower yields next season. “When you cannot buy fertilizers or pay workers, your farm starts dying,” one farmer told CocoaIntel. “Our future harvests are at risk.”
Some growers are also abandoning cocoa for more immediate cash sources. Reports indicate illegal gold miners and smugglers are offering farmers quick, albeit far lower, cash for cocoa or land — deepening rural instability and threatening long-term agricultural investment.
Stevenson Anane Boateng of GNACOF said bluntly:
“This crisis could decimate the next generation of cocoa farmers if we do not fix payments now.”
Calls for Reform and Support
Analysts and farmer representatives are urging the Ghanaian government and COCOBOD to reconsider financing models and restore syndicated credit lines to safeguard the value chain. They also call for greater transparency and direct involvement of farmers in pricing and payment systems.
International development partners are beginning to respond. A World Bank affiliate has recently injected US$300 million into the cocoa sector, targeting support for LBC financing and supply continuity. According to IFC representatives, this intervention aims to prevent the collapse of the supply chain that could ripple through Ghana’s rural communities.
What Comes Next?
Despite official reassurances, timelines for full remediation remain unclear. COCOBOD’s proactive engagement with banks and stakeholders is a step forward, but farmers, unions, and industry analysts insist structural reforms are urgently needed.
As one cocoa economist put it:
“The payment delays are not merely administrative glitches — they reflect deeper financing and market alignment problems that, if unresolved, could undermine Ghana’s cocoa legacy.” — Industry Expert, Cocoa Trade Finance (Accra)
For Ghana’s cocoa farmers — the backbone of the global chocolate supply — the hope now rests on swift policy shifts, restored financing channels, and meaningful dialogue between all players in this complex value chain.