COTE D’IVOIRE – Ghana’s minister of food and agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has been elected as chairman of the Cote d’Ivoire – Ghana Cocoa Initiative during the 5th steering committee meeting in Abidjan.
Acheampong, who also serves as the member of parliament Abetifi constituency, Ghana, is set to replace Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani who initially held the position.
The CIGCI was formed collaboratively between Ghana president, Nana Akufo-Addo and Ivorian president Alassane Outtara, to exert pressure on international cocoa buyers and trade houses to establish a minimum floor price of US$2,600 per tonne for cocoa beans from both countries.
The CIGCI is also leading the formulation of West Africa Standards for certification and traceability of cocoa in the subregion.
Meetings with stakeholders culminated in a decision to introduce a new trading mechanism featuring the Living Income Differential (LID), set at US$400.00 per tonne, for cocoa sold by both countries starting from the 2020–2021 season.
Effective 1 October 2020, Ghana Cocoa Board began the purchase of cocoa beans from farmers with the US$400 Living Income Differential (LID) added to their payments.
The successful addition of the LID raised the farmgate price of cocoa by a historic 28% in Ghana to GHS660, occasioning applause by farmers and cocoa society coalitions.
In his new role, Dr. Acheampong is tasked with construction oversight and handover of the permanent headquarters of the Initiative in Accra.
He will also focus on expanding bloc membership by bringing in other African cocoa-producing countries, restructuring the CIGCI, and implementing West African Standards for sustainability and cocoa traceability systems.
The minister promised to utilize his position to further the interests of cocoa producers in particular and the causes of the two countries.
Under his watch as an agriculture minister, Ghana has raised the state-guaranteed cocoa price paid to its farmers by more than 63% in a bid to boost income and prevent beans from being smuggled to neighbouring countries.
The increment will see farmers receive 20,943 Ghana cedis (US$1,837) per tonne for the new 2023/2024 season, which started in September 2023, compared with 12,800 Ghana cedis (US$1065.78) they got in 2022.
