The African University of Communication and Business branch of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (AUCB-TESCON) has accused the government of betraying cocoa farmers by failing to fulfil a key campaign promise.
The group slammed the ruling administration for not increasing the cocoa producer price to GH¢6,000 per bag as pledged during the 2024 election campaign.
A statement titled ‘The betrayal of Ghana’s cocoa farmers: A monumental breach of trust,’ and signed by Kwasi Ohene-Bugyei, President of AUCB-TESCON, said cocoa farmers are now mired in economic despair, political disillusionment, and institutional neglect.
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Cocoa remains one of Ghana’s most important export commodities, supporting over 800,000 farming households and indirectly sustaining more than two million citizens.
Production averages between 600,000 and 900,000 metric tonnes annually, making Ghana the world’s second-largest producer after Côte d’Ivoire.
The sector is regulated by the Ghana Cocoa Board, which announces producer prices every season.
Under the previous administration led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), cocoa prices rose steadily, reaching GH¢3,100 per 64kg bag in the 2023/2024 season.
AUCB-TESCON acknowledged that the increase helped cushion farmers against inflation and global market volatility.
“The price escalation under the previous administration was widely seen as a deliberate effort to protect farmers’ livelihoods,” the statement noted.
During the 2024 elections, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), led by John Dramani Mahama, pledged to raise cocoa prices from GH¢3,100 to GH¢6,000 per bag.
According to AUCB-TESCON, the promise was repeated at rallies and community engagements across cocoa-growing regions.
“This pledge was presented as an immediate economic intervention that would restore dignity and financial stability to farmers,” the group said.
However, the group insists that the pledge has not been honoured, leaving farmers frustrated and financially strained.
“Cocoa farmers now feel deceived. Their votes were secured through promises that have become illusory,” the statement added.
AUCB-TESCON warned that the failure to raise cocoa prices is already having severe consequences in farming communities, including rising rural poverty, increased school dropout rates, growing rural-urban migration, declining farm maintenance, threats to future cocoa yields, and a growing loss of confidence in democratic accountability.
“The deterioration of cocoa farms today is a direct threat to Ghana’s economic future,” the group cautioned, and urged the government to urgently review the cocoa producer price and adopt a transparent approach.
If the GH¢6,000 target cannot be met immediately, AUCB-TESCON is calling for a phased-increment plan with clear timelines.
“Cocoa farmers are entitled to dignity, integrity, and economic justice. They deserve honesty, not empty rhetoric,” the statement stressed.
Reaffirming the central role of cocoa in national development, the group warned that neglecting farmers undermines Ghana’s long-term stability.
“To disregard the hands that nurture cocoa is to weaken the very foundation of the Republic,” AUCB-TESCON stated.