The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Randy Abbey, has expressed deep concern over the inability of both cocoa farmers and COCOBOD to benefit from the unprecedented surge in global cocoa prices that lasted for about eighteen months.

According to Mr Abbey, despite the historic rise in world market prices, the period instead left cocoa farmers and the state cocoa regulator grappling with excessive debt.

He noted that since the establishment of the Ghana Cocoa Board, there has never been a situation where producer prices were adjusted as significantly as they were over the past eighteen months.

He lamented that global cocoa prices, which peaked around 12,000 dollars per tonne and hovered between 10,000 and 9,000 dollars at various points, are now on a downward trend.

Mr Abbey said both farmers and COCOBOD should have reaped substantial benefits during this period of high prices.

However, he explained that the gains were undermined by challenges during the 2023 cocoa crop season, when COCOBOD sold cocoa forward at an average price of about 2,600 dollars per tonne but was unable to deliver approximately 333,000 tonnes of cocoa as contracted.

This situation, he noted, significantly affected the financial position of the Board and its ability to fully capitalise on the global price surge.

Mr Abbey made these remarks during a courtesy call on him by members of the Best Cocoa Farmers Association of Ghana, who had visited to engage management on issues affecting cocoa production and farmer welfare in the country.