Ghana COCOBOD has revealed that approximately 160,000 tonnes of cocoa were lost to smuggling during the 2023/2024 crop season, according to a report from Reuters.

Charles Amenyaglo, the Director of Special Services at the cocoa authority, highlighted the severe impact of smuggling, stating that the country’s cocoa production loss was more than three times the total output for the 2023/2024 season.

"Conservatively, I will say we lost 160,000 tonnes,” he informed Reuters, noting that a joint task force intercepted around 250 tonnes of smuggled cocoa beans, a significant increase from the 17 tonnes seized during the 2022/2023 season.

Amenyaglo also mentioned that COCOBOD is collaborating with the Ghana Armed Forces to address the rising cases of cocoa smuggling to neighboring nations.

Ivory Coast and Ghana produce about 60% of the world’s cocoa beans, but smuggling activities have affected output, pushing up market prices and contributing to the surge in chocolate costs this year.

COCOBOD’s data indicated that Ghana harvested 429,323 metric tonnes of cocoa by the end of June, starting from the season’s onset in September, which accounted for less than 55% of the typical yield.

Reuters also reported that the 2023/2024 season marked the steepest decline in cocoa production in the last two decades.

In response, Ghana’s COCOBOD has set the farmgate price for cocoa farmers at GH¢48,000 per tonne, or GH¢3,000 per 64-kilogram bag, for the upcoming 2024/2025 crop season.

This new rate reflects a 45% increase from April 2024 and a 129% rise compared to September 2023.

The price hike follows COCOBOD’s discussions with the government aimed at boosting the producer price to discourage smuggling and enhance the livelihoods of cocoa farmers as the new season gets underway.