ACCRA, March 5 (Reuters) – Ghanaian cocoa farmers worry they have not been paid for deliveries, even after the regulator released funds to buyers to settle arrears and support the struggling sector.
The Ghana Cocoa Board, or COCOBOD, said last week it had released 3.62 billion cedis ($336.74 million) to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) to clear outstanding payments owed to farmers dating back to November 2025.
The disbursement, made following a directive from the finance ministry, was intended to facilitate prompt payment to farmers and improve liquidity in the cocoa sector.
But farmers and purchasing clerks say the money has yet to reach them, raising questions about whether the funds are instead being used to service debts owed by cocoa buyers to banks.
COCOBOD did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
“We have still not been paid since November,” said purchasing clerk Justice Osei Bonsu. “Farmers think we are holding their money, but the truth is we have not received anything.”
Another purchasing clerk, Enoch Egyir, said payments under both the previous cocoa price and those under the price announced in February remain outstanding.
“They have not paid us for what we delivered under the old price since November, nor for what we delivered under the new price,” he said. “We plead with the government to intervene.”
Farmer Ebenezer Asiful said he was owed payment for more than 35 bags of cocoa delivered since December, as well as 11 bags supplied after the recent price reduction.
“We heard in the news that COCOBOD has released funds,” he said. “So how is it that the LBC we work with has not received any money to pay us?”
BUYERS URGE FARMERS TO REMAIN PATIENT
Industry players say payments cannot be made immediately across the sector.
“With between 800,000 and one million cocoa farmers, payments cannot be made at the same time,” Samuel Adimado, president of the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association of Ghana, told local media.
He said COCOBOD was still releasing funds to licensed cocoa buyers and urged farmers yet to be paid to remain patient.
Buyers currently owe local banks between 7 billion and 8 billion cedis, debts accumulated after they took out loans to prefinance cocoa purchases.
Adimado said the association had advised its members to prioritise payments to farmers once they receive funds from COCOBOD.
“We know you owe the banks, but prioritise the farmers once you receive any funds from COCOBOD,” he said.
$1 = 10.7500 Ghanaian cedi)
Reporting by Emmanuel Bruce. Editing by Mark Potter
