The government on Thursday announced an increase in the Producer Price (PP) of cocoa to GHc5,520.00 per tonne from GHc3,392.00 per tonne for the 2014/2015 season, which opens on Friday October 3, 2014.
The figure translates into GHc345 per bag of 64kg gross, representing about 75 per cent of the net Free On Board (FOB) price.
Mr Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance, addressing the press on Thursday in Accra, said there had been positive development on the world cocoa market since the last review of the PP in October 2013, and it was against this positive price development that the committee met and decided on the upward review of the PP.
He said the last two seasons saw the average FOB prices of cocoa used for the review of the PP declining from US$ 3,000 in 2011/2012 to US$2,300 in 2012/2013, forcing government to reduce its share of the 2013/2014 cocoa export duty in order to raise the PP paid to cocoa farmers..
Mr Terkper said the government and Cocobod had decided to pay bonus to farmers at the time of sale of their produce, adding that an additional amount of GHc5.00 per bag of 64 kg gross weight had been approved.
He said each bag of 64 kg gross weight of cocoa sold by the farmer, the farmer shall be paid GHc 345.00 per bag plus GHc5.00 as bonus and urged Licensed Buying Companies (LBC?s) to take note and pay farmers accordingly.
The Minister said this brings the price and bonus per tonne of cocoa to GHc5, 600 which is equivalent to 76 per cent of the net FOB, urging all LBC?s to comply with the directive.
He said Producer Price Review Committee had decided to re-establish the stabilization fund so as to be able to cushion farmers should the world market price begin to decline in the future.
The PPRC also approved other rates for all other stakeholders in the industry, including buyers? margin, haulers? rate, warehousing and internal marketing costs as well as fees for disinfestations, grading and sealing.
He said the margins, rates and charges had been increased substantially over last year?s levels in order to ensure that other key stakeholders operate at profitable levels to sustain the cocoa industry.
Mr Terkper said the government would continue to support other interventions including pests and disease control for farmers, and the fertilizer application programme to increase the productivity of cocoa farmers.
He said government commits itself to continuing with the rehabilitation and replanting of cocoa farms, the provision of 50 million free improved seedlings over the next three years to farmers to help replant diseased infected trees that would be removed over the period.
?Government will rehabilitate existing schools, construct new ones and provide them with essential social amenities, and support COCOBOD to expand its cocoa roads rehabilitation programme,?he said.
He said COCOBOD has also put in place a child education support programme which aims at building schools and libraries in deprived cocoa communities and government would continue to support it to play its role as a major contributor to the development of Ghana.
GNA
