President John Dramani Mahama has defended government’s decision to revise the cocoa producer price, describing the move as painful but necessary to restore competitiveness and ease acute liquidity pressures in the sector.

Delivering the 2026 State of the Nation Address, the President warned that failure to act would have forced the country into additional heavy borrowing, potentially derailing the fragile economic recovery.

“In the last week, we have had to take the painful but necessary decision to revise the producer price of cocoa to achieve competitive pricing and resolve the acute liquidity challenges in the sector.” he said

The President stressed that maintaining the previous pricing structure without adequate financial backing would have created unplanned expenditure and pushed the country back toward the severe economic challenges it has only recently begun to overcome.

“Failure to do this would have meant borrowing billions in borrowed funds. This unplanned expenditure would have taken us right back to the very devastating economic problem we have only recently begun to escape”, he said.

While acknowledging the concerns and protests from cocoa farmers, President Mahama assured producers that the reforms will deliver long-term benefits, including fairer and more transparent pricing. He said the policy shift forms part of a broader plan to restructure and modernise the cocoa value chain while safeguarding farmer incomes.

 “While fully understanding the concerns and protests of our farmers, I can firmly assure them that the reforms announced by government will see effect. It will be a total transformation of the cocoa sector and guarantee them a fair and transparent price that enables them to meet the cost of producing the commodity and making decent margins.”

The President emphasised that disciplined economic decision-making remains key to protecting Ghana from renewed hardship as the government works to stabilise the cocoa sector and the broader economy. He added that sound economic judgment must guide policy choices, noting that tough decisions today are necessary to prevent deeper hardship tomorrow. The cocoa pricing review is expected to remain a key issue for farmers, exporters, and financial markets as Ghana continues efforts to stabilise its economy and strengthen one of its most critical export sectors