Cocoa smuggling to neighbouring Togo and Côte d’Ivoire between 2022 and 2025 has cost Ghana a total of US$1.1 billion, according to the Director of Special Services at COCOBOD, Jake Kudjo Samahar.

During an interaction with stakeholders in the cocoa sector in the Oti and Volta regions,he disclosed that a total of 7,128.13 tonnes of cocoa were lost to smuggling between the 2020 and 2025 crop years in the Volta and Oti regions.

Speaking to the media, he noted that the tonnage keeps decreasing each year, adding that the recorded losses have consistently dropped from the 2020/21 crop year to the 2024/25 crop year.

“The tonnage recorded for 2020/21 crop year was 7,215.19, which reduced to 5,656.25 in 2021/22, further downward to 874.31 in the 2022/23 crop year, while 2023/24 recorded 468.75 tonnes with 2024/25 crop year recording 87.06 tonnes. We are losing a lot of revenue because if you look at within three years from 2022-2025, Ghana has lost almost $1.1 billion through cocoa smuggling into neighbouring Togo and Côte d’Ivoire,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has linked the debt crisis facing the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)to certain financial decisions taken by past officials.

In an interview on Friday, November 14, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson noted that the GH¢32 billion in arrears the sector is experiencing is the result of indiscriminate contract awards by the previous administration.According to him, these contracts were awarded during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) without proper checks or budget allocations to fund them. He disclosed that despite these challenges, COCOBOD’s financial pressures have not eased, as its weakened balance sheet prevents it from meeting its obligations.“When COCOBOD awards a contract, they have to pay the contractors, not the Finance Ministry. The previous government awarded contracts anyhow, without any sources to pay for these contracts. The COCOBOD CEO inherited GH¢32 billion worth of arrears. He cannot pay it in one year because he doesn’t have the resources. COCOBOD cannot go out and borrow because of its balance sheet, so how is it supposed to pay that?”

As part of efforts by the Board to combat the smuggling of cocoa from the country, informants who assist the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in its anti-smuggling operations will receive one-third of the value of any confiscated cocoa. According to the Board, these rewards will be paid without undue delay.

In a statement, it wrote, "Under this arrangement, informants and anti-smuggling agents will receive one-third (1/3) of the assessed value of confiscated cocoa as their reward. This reviewed scheme is designed to ensure the sustainability of the anti-smuggling campaign while maintaining strong public participation in the collective effort to curb cocoa smuggling".

Individuals have been urged to contact the Special Anti-Smuggling Task Force through the hotline on 0308-040-107. The Board has assured that it will treat with strict confidentiality any information received from informants.Ghana continues to grapple with cocoa smuggling, a practice that undermines the country’s revenue.

Meannwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Honourable Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Her Excellency Imane Ouaadil, on July 28, handed over two thousand (2,000) tons of fertilizer, equivalent to 40,000 bags of fertilizer, to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the fertilizer was donated to the West African country by the Kingdom of Morocco during the official visit of Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa to Morocco last month as part of the two countries’ commitment to sustainable agriculture to enhance food security.

Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, John Setor Dumelo, received the donated fertilizers on behalf of the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku. He expressed gratitude to the Morrocan government for the donation. He assured that farmers will receive the fertilizers to aid crop production.

“Yesterday, 40,000 bags of fertilizer was donated to Ghana by the Kingdom of Morocco through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On behalf of my boss Hon Eric Opoku, I want to say a big thank you to Hon Ablakwa and Her Excellency Ouaadil for this kind gesture. We at the Ministry of Agriculture will ensure the fertilizers get straight to the deserving farmers as soon as possible,” he wrote in a post on the X platform on July 29.

Stakeholders in the agricultural sector have bemoaned the absence of a single chemical fertiliser plant in the country. The Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that the absence of such a plant is having an adverse impact on crop production and the contribution of the agricultural sector to the country’s economy i.e. the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP declined from 26.9% in 2010 to 22.7% in 2023.

In March this year, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Dr. Said Boakye said, “We need to establish several fertiliser manufacturing plants to ensure that adequate and affordable fertiliser is available to farmers, which will help boost agricultural productivity.”

“The sad reality is that Ghana lacks a single chemical fertiliser plant. In our rice studies, we have been comparing with Vietnam, where they have more than 7,000 plants. Vietnam’s success in achieving high agricultural productivity is largely due to fertilisers being readily available to farmers at no cost, along with incentivized prices,” he added.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has entreated the government to allocate significant funding to establish a fertiliser manufacturing plant.

COCOBOD has noted that it would not secure any syndicated loan to finance cocoa purchases for the 2025/26 crop season. According to them, the shortage of cocoa beans on the global level has informed such a decision.

“We’re not doing syndication...this year [2025], we’re not doing syndication. What has necessitated us not to do syndication is that we’re experiencing a global shortage of the cocoa bean.”

He made these revelations during an interview with Accra-based radio station, Citi FM, on Monday, August 4. The Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Jerome Kwaku Sam, stated explicitly stated, that the Board had not sought syndicated financing for the 2024/2025 season and had no intention of doing so this year.

“...To be very honest, last year [2024], we didn’t do syndication, and this year [2025], we’re not doing syndication.

Mr Sam further noted that the move also reflects a strategic effort to reduce costs under prevailing market conditions.

“We’re not doing syndication whereby we’re going to incur additional expenses and what have you. That is out of the system or table for now,” he emphasized.