Chocolate bounty: Ghana at war against cocoa smugglers 

EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

The disconnect between high global cocoa prices and the price paid to farmers has resulted in unprecedented cocoa smuggling across Ghana’s borders. 

In mid-September, a minibus travelling from Ghana’s capital Accra was intercepted further north-east in the town of Sagakope by the Sogakope District Police and the National Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce. The vehicle was stopped based on intelligence that the driver was smuggling cocoa beans and headed towards the town of Aflao near the border with Togo.  

Sixteen bags of cocoa beans were discovered in a hidden roof compartment of the bus.  

The same vehicle and driver had been intercepted on the same route with same amount of cocoa on September 2. In total, more than 350 bags of cocoa had been seized in September alone, including 238 bags in two trucks believed to be destined for Togo via the sea route.  

Two truckloads of cocoa were intercepted in the Ada district in September by COCOBOD’s Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce and the Ghana Police Service. COCOBOD

According to data from Ghana’s cocoa board COCOBOD accessed by News GhanaExternal link, the country has lost almost half a million tonnes of cocoa (473,253 tonnes) to smuggling since 2021. This is equivalent to about $1.28 billion (CHF1 billion) in revenue from cocoa beans grown on its soil. 

“The difference in price between Ghana and its neighbours, late payments and unstable currency are responsible for smuggling across borders,” Joseph Bandanaa, Ghana Country Lead for the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO), told Swissinfo.  
For example, in October 2024, the price per tonne of cocoa was $3,060 in the Ivory Coast and $3,039 in Ghana. While the difference may not seem like much, cash flow issues at COCOBOD have occasionally resulted in delayed payments to farmers increasing the temptation to sell cocoa on the black market.  

Switzerland is affected because Ghana is the main source of cocoa for the Swiss chocolate industry. Companies that are members of the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa have committed to sourcing 100% sustainable cocoa by 2030 (currently at 84% in 2024). This requires tracing sourced cocoa back to individual farms, a task that is made more difficult by smuggling.  

“Switzerland can provide technical assistance, capacity-building, and digital tools to enhance Ghana’s systems for traceability, border monitoring, and export control. Such collaboration would reinforce transparency and accountability across the cocoa value chain, contributing to a more sustainable, resilient, and legally compliant cocoa sector in Ghana,” says Bandanaa.  

Reward for informers

The world’s second-biggest cocoa producer wants to significantly increase seizures of smuggled cocoa. On October 8, COCOBOD announced a reward scheme for informants. 

“Under this arrangement, informants and anti-smuggling agents will receive one-third of the assessed value of confiscated cocoa as their reward,” said the announcement.  

Poster offering reward for information on cocoa smuggling. COCOBOD

An informant, for instance, who contributes to the seizure of 16 bags of cocoa beans hidden inside a minibus could pocket as much as GHS19,333 (about $1,800), just slightly less than the average annual income of a cocoa farmer (GHS24,814).  

While smuggling of Ghana’s cocoa is not a new issue, record global cocoa prices have made it more profitable than before. In Togo, the recommended farmgate price is based on the global price of cacao and is adjusted twice a month to reflect volatility. Thus when global prices reached record highs in 2024 and 2025 (almost $10,000 and $11,000 per tonne respectively), farmers immediately reaped the benefits. Ghana’s COCOBOD on the other hand, sets prices only once a year at the beginning of the cocoa harvest. The system offers stability but can result in farmers getting much less when global prices spike, making it tempting for smugglers to sell Ghanaian cocoa across the border.  

“Togo could also be a conduit for smuggling cocoa elsewhere and not necessarily the final destination. It is quite easy as the Volta cocoa-growing region is on the border,” says Bandanaa. 

Price matching

When the annual farmgate price of GHS51,660 (US$5,040) per tonne was announced in August, the average cocoa price on the global market was $7,592. In response, the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association, which represents about 300,000 farmers, threatened to bar COCOBOD representatives from visiting their farms. The protesting farmers even threatened to smuggle their cocoa to neighbouring Ivory Coast and Togo if they were not adequately renumerated. 

To add more pressure, on October 1, the Ivory Coast’s president, Alassane Ouattara, announced a record farmgate price of FCFA2,800/kilo (about $5,000/tonne) just ahead of the presidential elections slated for October 25. To appease disgruntled farmers, Ghana’s finance minister Cassiel Ato Forson announced an updated farmgate price on October 2, an unprecedented move. Farmers were promised GHS58,000 ($5,393) per tonne, a 12.2% increase over the price set in August.  

Both countries are aware of the significant loss of revenue from smuggling and created a sort of cocoa cartel in 2023 called Côte d’Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) to better coordinate prices. Despite increasing farmgate prices, the 2024 Cocoa Household Income study of SWISSCO and COCOBOD focusing on the 2022/23 harvest found that 91% of 600 cocoa farming households surveyed in Ghana earned below the adjusted living income benchmark of GHS52,970 ($4,315). 

“Living income goes beyond just price. The goal must be to increase productivity and reduce costs of inputs such as fertilizers so farmers have enough money for household expenditure,” says Bandanaa.  

This year, COCBOD reintroduced free fertilisers for cocoa farmers. Ironically, this was stopped in 2020 because the free fertiliser was being smuggled out of the country and sold. Other support measures offered to farmers include free pesticides, flower inducers and spraying machines.  

Edited by Virginie Mangin/sb