Senior officials at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) have taken a voluntary pay cut in a bid to ease mounting financial pressures within Ghana’s cocoa industry.
In a statement issued on Monday, February 16, 2026, the Board announced that its Executive Management will take a 20 percent salary reduction, while Senior Staff will forgo 10 percent of their pay for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop season. The move, which takes immediate effect, is aimed at helping the institution navigate what it describes as significant liquidity challenges.
Signed by the Chief Executive and circulated to media outlets, the statement described the measure as part of a broader cost-control strategy. Beyond the salary reductions, COCOBOD is implementing tighter procurement controls and a staff rationalisation exercise to bring spending in line with revenue.
The decision comes at a turbulent time for Ghana’s cocoa sector, which has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks over falling global prices, farmer welfare, and the financial sustainability of industry operations. Experts have repeatedly highlighted the strain caused by the heavy financing needed for annual cocoa purchases and the sector’s vulnerability to fluctuations on the international commodities market.
Just days before the announcement, the government revised the producer price of cocoa downward for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop year. The new rate stands at GH¢41,392 per tonne, equivalent to GH¢2,587 per 64-kilogramme bag, reflecting a significant drop from previous levels.
At a press briefing in Accra on February 12, 2026, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson explained that the adjustment was driven by declining global market prices and growing liquidity constraints. He noted that when the season opened in August 2025, the producer price was set at GH¢51,660 per tonne, based on 70 percent of a projected free-on-board price of 7,200 US dollars per tonne and an exchange rate of 10.25 cedis to the dollar.
The latest revision represents a reduction of GH¢16,608 per tonne and GH¢1,038 per bag compared to the October 2025 rate of GH¢58,000 per tonne.
With leadership now sharing in the financial sacrifice, COCOBOD says it hopes the combined measures will stabilise operations and safeguard the long-term viability of Ghana’s cocoa industry.
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