By Joe Bavier
JOHANNESBURG – Cocoa growers in Ghana filed a complaint with state regulator Cocobod on Thursday listing key environmental and social issues, including a demand for a “living income” for farmers.
The complaint, which was signed by 30 farmers, also raised concerns over continuing deforestation, child labour and the use of pesticides by the world’s second largest cocoa producer.
It will test a grievance mechanism created by Cocobod as a prerequisite for a $600 million syndicated loan arranged by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 2019.
Cocobod’s mandate gives it broad control over the regulation of farmer prices, cocoa marketing and pesticide distribution.
“The AfDB sought to address precisely the type of environmental and social issues identified in this petition when it mandated the creation of the…grievance mechanism,” the complaint, seen by Reuters, said.
The document was submitted by the University of Ghana School of Law, the Civic Response non-profit organisation, and the Chicago-based Corporate Accountability Lab.
Cocobod and the AfDB did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The cocoa trade has been roiled by poor harvests in West Africa last season that pushed global prices to record highs.
Contracts are still trading well above historical averages, with December New York cocoa currently above $7,000 a ton.
Cocobod raised Ghana’s farmer price by nearly 45% to 48,000 cedis ($3,000) per metric ton for the 2024/25 season.
The producers’ complaint cited studies finding that only a fraction of Ghana’s farmers earn a living income from their cocoa.
“Cocobod must require companies to pay farmers a higher price…a living income,” it said, adding higher prices were also “an essential first step towards eliminating child labour”.
Cocobod must also enforce companies’ commitments on deforestation, ensure their supply chains are publicly transparent, ban the sale of dangerous pesticides and increase farm sustainability, the farmers said.
(Additional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila in Accra)
