Ghana is located on the West Coast of Africa, referred to as the Gold Coast due to its abundance of the precious metal. It is the second-largest producer of cocoa, with about 15% of the world market. Cocoa is dominated by Ghana’s next-door neighbor, Cote D’Ivoire, which has spent the last decade in disarray after a civil war and the ensuing post-war violence. Despite the fact that agriculture accounts for about 40% of GDP and more than half the workforce, Cocoa is the only commercial crop of economic significance. While other industrial crops, including cotton, rubber, and tobacco are grown, they are small potatoes compared to cocoa and other exports. (The major exports are timber, gold, diamond, bauxite, and manganese. It is difficult for African economies to be competitive in global agriculture markets due to agriculture subsidies in the U.S. and Europe, efficient farming practices in Brazil and Argentina, and the scale of rice production in Thailand and Vietnam. For a more complete explanation, see here.)
The main food crops grown in Ghana are maize, yams, cassava, and, to a lesser extent, sorghum, and millet. More recently, rice Cocoa is the only with a specific framework for facilitating trade. All cocoa grown for export must be sold to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which aggregates the crop for sale in the international market. International demand and the presence of a single buyer to coordinate trade means the market for cocoa is guaranteed. COCOBOD has experimented over the last thirty years with various market liberalization tactics in order to make the industry more competitive, including privatizing more companies and investing in the development of the market. Technoserve currently runs the Cocoa Abrapopa project in Ghana, which has raised farmer incomes by a remarkable 270%. Continue reading