Emmanuel Martey, a member of the NDC Regional Communications Team, has strongly refuted claims made by Addo Yaw Harry, NPP Communications Director for Western North, that the recent cocoa price increment will fuel galamsey activities. The remarks, published by Kessben Online, have been described by Mr. Martey as misleading and lacking in factual basis.
According to Mr. Martey, during the first two years of the NPP’s tenure in office, there was no increment in cocoa prices. “If the price was not increased and galamsey did not grow, how then can a carefully planned increment, accompanied by significant incentives for farmers, be said to increase galamsey?” he questioned.
Providing background, he explained that for the 2024/2025 season under the NPP administration, the general Free On Board (FOB) price stood at $4,850 per ton, but farmers received only GHC 3,100 per ton, which represented 63.9% of the price. This rate was pegged at an exchange rate of GHC 16 to the US dollar, amounting to GHC 3,100 per bag. Farmers also had to bear the cost of purchasing their own fertilizers, inputs, and spraying machines.
Mr. Martey further stated that in the second quarter of the current NDC administration, the government maintained the GHC 3,100 price despite a drop in global cocoa prices and exchange rate fluctuations. The new administration has now raised the price to $5,040 per ton, marking an increase of $1,940.
Highlighting the support package attached to the increment, he noted that cocoa farmers will receive free cocoa fertilizers (liquid and granular), free insecticides, free spraying machines, free fungicides, free flower inducers, and Cocobod tertiary scholarships for their wards. This, he said, will significantly reduce production costs and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
Mr. Martey stressed that the price increment, coupled with these extensive interventions, is designed to empower farmers, not push them towards illegal mining. “This is a deliberate and targeted policy to strengthen the cocoa sector, and any attempt to link it to galamsey is unfounded,” he added.
He concluded by challenging Mr. Addo Yaw Harry and the NPP to disclose what they achieved for cocoa farmers in their first two years in office. The NDC government, he assured, remains committed to prioritizing the welfare and development of hardworking cocoa farmers across the country.
