Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini, has urged the government to establish robust systems to secure cocoa production, following protests by farmers in the Western North Region over the recent reduction of the cocoa producer price.

On Thursday, February 19, 2026, farmers from districts including Sefwi Wiawso, Juaboso, and Bia West took to the streets, waving placards with messages such as “Restore Our Price Now” and “Cocoa Sustains Ghana, Don’t Neglect Farmers.”

The demonstrators described the government’s cut from GH¢3,625 to GH¢2,587 per 64‑kilogram bag as unfair, arguing that rising costs for labour, fertiliser and transportation mean the new price barely covers production expenses.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, February 21, Mr Fuseini highlighted the government’s ambition to expand cocoa processing, but stressed the need for guaranteed cocoa bean supply.

“His Excellency the President is saying, look, we want to process our cocoa, but we must have cocoa beans before we can even process them,” he said.

He drew attention to past challenges in meeting export obligations.

“What we have seen in the past is that we have not even been able to fulfil contracts for export that we have entered into. We must put systems in place to ensure that we guarantee ourselves at least a minimum production of cocoa beans, to be able to say that we are going to produce 50% of the cocoa beans in this country. We should not be depending on gambling or lottering in this reform exercise,” he said.