Cocoa Industry

THE COCOA INDUSTRY IN GHANA

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) has been cultivated for at least three millennia. This food, originated from Central America and parts of Mexico, dates back to around 1100 BC when the Aztecs made it into a beverage known as Nahuati or “bitter water” in English. Cocoa is a Cash crop and a major export for the producing countries as well as a major import for consuming countries.

Usually, the consuming countries do not have the suitable climate for cocoa production. The saying ‘Cocoa is Ghana; Ghana is Cocoa’ portrays the important role cocoa plays in the economy of Ghana. Cocoa employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over six of the sixteen regions of Ghana.

The crop generates about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually and is a major contributor to Government Revenue and GDP. In 2021, in real terms, the contribution of cocoa to GDP was GHS3.1 billion, around 533 million U.S. dollars. Overall, in the 2020/2021 crop season, a little over one million metric tons of cocoa beans were produced in Ghana.

cocoa-farm

Because of the importance of the crop globally, COCOBOD over the years has been able to raise receivables-backed syndicated loan each year from the international money market to finance its cocoa purchases and ensure that farmers receive prompt payment for their produce.