Reforms being contemplated for La Cote d’Ivoire’s cocoa sector could offer a solution to the problem of smuggling Ghana has had to grapple with in recent years. The present liberalized cocoa buying regime allows cocoa farmers to freely negotiate how much they are willing to sell their produce to the buying companies. Ghanaian farmers for instance get GH¢138 for a 64 kilo bag although the same quantity sells at more than GH¢200 across the border in Cote d’Ivoire. This is because whilst Ghanaian farmers get free mass spraying of their trees and given high-yielding varieties, – resulting in low cost of production – farmers across the border in La Cote d’Ivoire do not. A report by Bloomberg however says the Ivorian government wants to once again take charge of cocoa purchases and set uniform prices across the country. It is believed this could discourage smugglers because they’re unlikely to offer the attractive prices that private buyers have been paying for the produce as they would factor in other costs. Source: Joy Business/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana