Cocobod upbeat about target

...despite slow start to season

Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) says it is confident it will achieve its 2012-2013 crop-year harvest target of 800,000 metric tonnes, though the rains have delayed.

The rainfall pattern in the south and north of the Western Region, where around 55 percent of Ghana’s cocoa is produced, has been very bad this season -- raising fears that the harvest may be lower than projected.

“The season has started badly due to lack of rainfall. The farmers are really worried. The peak period for the rainfall has passed. This will hurt the country’s target for the season and our profits,” said an official of a Licenced Buying Company, who pleaded anonymity.

Cocobod’s Public Affairs Manager Noah Kwasi Amenyah confirmed to B&FT that though the rains did not start early, there are signs it will improve this year to enable the industry regulator attain its target.

“The signs in some parts of the cocoa-growing areas show that if we get rains it will help boost the harvest. 

“Last Tuesday’s rain was a good sign, but we hope it rained in other parts of the country’s cocoa-growing belts. If we get good rains we will get a good harvest,” he said.

Ghana operates a two-cycle cocoa year consisting of a 33-week main crop (October-June), which is mainly exported to Europe and Asia, and the minor light crop (11-week) which is discounted to local processing firms including the state-owned Cocoa Processing Company (CPC).

The main season, which opened in October last year, is getting off to a slow start and is being closely monitored by international traders.

Cocoa purchases for the 2012-13 season reached 209,400 tonnes by Nov. 8th -- down 31 percent on the year according to Cocobod figures.

Ghana produced an unprecedented one million tonnes of cocoa during the 2010-11 crop-year thanks to good weather and improved farming techniques, but production declined to about 850,000 tonnes last season. 

Cocobod said cocoa production tends to fall slightly after a bumper year. It expects to purchase 800,000 tonnes for both main and light crops in the ongoing crop-year. 

The government in October last year announced a marginal increase in the producer price of cocoa for the 2012/13 season, despite a more-than-10 percent slump in the world price of the crop in the 12-month period to that announcement. 

The producer price was reviewed upwards by 3.4 percent, from GHȼ3,280 to GHȼ3,392 per tonne.

A bag of cocoa beans is currently sold at GHȼ212, from GHȼ205 previously, representing 78.42% of the net Free on Board (FOB) value of the crop.

Government also reduced its share of the 2012/13 cocoa export duty drastically in order to raise the producer price paid to farmers. Farmers were faced with declining world cocoa prices from US$3,000 in 2011/12 to US$2,300 in 2012/13.

In addition to the higher producer price, farmers will continue to benefit from free improved seedlings, mass-spraying, and rehabilitation of farms as well as scholarships for their children.

Ghana is the second-biggest producer of cocoa in the world, with an estimated 800,000 people said to benefit directly from cocoa production.