Some cocoa farmers have expressed their joy and appreciation to the government for the historic cocoa producer price increment.

At a press conference in Bekwai in the Bibiani Anhweaso Bekwai municipality of the Western North Region, the cocoa farmers said for years they have faced hardship, struggled to make ends meet, cared less for their school-going-children, and watched their children dream of better lives elsewhere.

The Sehwi Bekwai Cocoa District 2023 Best Cocoa Farmer, Kwame Obi Yeden, said with the advent of the new price has restored their hope in the cocoa business as they can now feed their family.

The government through the Ghana Cocoa Board has historically increased the producer price of cocoa in the country.

President Akufo-Addo on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at Tepa in the Ashanti Region announced the producer price of cocoa for the 2023/2024 season.

The bag of cocoa has moved from GH¢800.00 per bag to GH¢1,308.00 per bag increasing per tonne from GH¢12,800.00 to GH¢20,943.00 and that represents a 63.5% increment of the previous one.

Addressing the gathering during the announcement of the new producer price, the president said the new price was meant to improve the livelihoods of the cocoa farmers and for a fair and moneymaking price for their efforts.

The farmers did not only praise the president for the historic increment but also for the introduction of a cocoa rehabilitation program that aims to treat the diseased cocoa farmlands.

Notwithstanding, cocoa smuggling to the neighboring countries particularly Ivory Coast has been a common practice in the area.

The farmers used the opportunity to appeal to their colleague farmers, LBCs, and all culprits to put an end to that illegal practice so that the government could reach its target for cocoa metric tonnes.