Ghana Risks the Anger of 800,000 Cocoa Farmers
- Pay support is costing Ghana almost $450 million this year
- New producer prices will correspond with global trends
Photographer: Jane Hahn/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo in Ghana will struggle to sidestep one of its most difficult decisions since coming to power a year ago: telling a crucial constituency to accept a pay cut.
The New Patriotic Party-led government has little choice but to end subsidizing the prices it pays to 800,000 cocoa farmers, support that will likely cost almost $450 million this season. Ghana Cocoa Board, the industry regulator in the world’s second-biggest producer, is running out of cash with few options for funding left other than to sell short-term debt to local investors at rates as high as 22 percent.