President John Dramani Mahama has said his government’s decision to reduce the cocoa producer price is difficult but necessary.
Mahama explained that the reduction was aimed at addressing acute liquidity challenges within the cocoa sector.
According to John Mahama, maintaining the previous price would have compelled the government to borrow billions, which he says could have taken the country back into economic difficulties.
Delivering his 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament, President Mahama explained, “Mr Speaker, a nation that does not learn from past mistakes cannot get out of the cycle of problems that impose hardship on its citizens.
We have just begun to emerge from the most devastating economic crisis in our nation’s recent history. This crisis was triggered by general financial indiscipline, huge deficits and massive debt occasioned by persistent unbudgeted expenditure to meet the ends of convenient politicking.
In the last few weeks, we have had to take the painful but necessary decision to revise the producer price of Cocoa to achieve competitive pricing and resolve acute liquidity challenges in the sector. Failure to do so would have meant pumping in billions of borrowed funds”.
He added, “This unplanned expenditure would have taken us right back to the very devastating economic problems we have only recently begun to escape.
So while fully understanding the concerns and protests of our farmers, I can firmly assure them that the reforms announced by the government will see a total transformation of the sector and guarantee them a fair price that enables them to meet the cost of producing the commodity and make decent margins.
The difference between economic hardships and avoiding the same is the exercise of sound economic judgement, and I am determined to take decisions that ensure our collective wellbeing and avoid suffering for all our citizens.”
In related news, the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has told Cocoa farmers in Ghana to remain calm as the Mahama government has prudent policies for them.
According to Asiedu Nketia, cocoa farmers must hold the Akufo-Addo government responsible for the ongoing mess in Ghana’s cocoa sector.
He asserted that the Mahama government has established a committee to investigate issues in the cocoa sector, and soon, Ghanaians will see the consequences.
Asiedu Nketia made this known during his thank-you tour in the Twifo Atti-Morkwa of the Central Region, urging cocoa farmers to remain patient.
Watch the video below:
Prez Mahama explains why his gov't had to take the 'painful but necessary' decision of reducing producer cocoa prices#SONA2026LIVE #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/tzdLBogYHC
— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) February 27, 2026