Organised Labour is preparing to hold urgent discussions with the government and the management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) within the next two weeks, as the cocoa sector grapples with one of its most severe financial crises in recent memory.
Labour leaders say the planned meeting will focus on pressing concerns including proposals to restructure COCOBOD’s salary framework and explore measures to shore up the Board’s deteriorating financial position. The engagement is being driven by growing anxiety among workers over the sector’s direction following a series of damaging disclosures in recent weeks.
The talks come days after COCOBOD itself moved to signal shared sacrifice at the top. COCOBOD Chief Executive Dr. Randy Abbey confirmed that executive management took a 20 percent pay cut while senior staff accepted a 10 percent salary reduction, effective Monday, February 16, 2026, for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop year. The reductions form part of broader cost-containment efforts including procurement reforms and a staff rationalisation exercise.
The depth of the crisis became clearer when Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson addressed a press conference on February 12. He announced that the government would reduce the producer price of cocoa beans to GH¢2,587 per bag, down from the GH¢3,625 per bag promised in 2025, citing a global price collapse of nearly 70 percent from the commodity’s late-2024 peak. To cushion farmers, the government said they would receive 90 percent of the gross Free On Board (FOB) price, surpassing the standard 70 percent minimum threshold.
The scale of COCOBOD’s financial exposure has alarmed stakeholders. President John Mahama has directed the Attorney-General to conduct a criminal investigation and forensic audit into COCOBOD’s operations over the past eight years, as the Board contends with outstanding debt of approximately GH¢32 billion.
Global market conditions have offered no relief. Cocoa prices fell below $4,000 per metric ton on February 10, 2026, extending a month-to-date loss of over 10 percent and compounding the damage from January’s 29 percent decline. Analysts warn further pressure lies ahead, with commodity research firm StoneX projecting a global cocoa surplus of 287,000 metric tons in the 2025/2026 season.
With workers’ livelihoods directly in the crosshairs of the restructuring agenda, Organised Labour’s push for dialogue is seen as a critical step toward ensuring any further austerity measures are negotiated rather than imposed.
