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The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr Randy Abbey, has revealed that the board failed to honour cocoa supply contracts totaling 333,767 tonnes during the 2023/2024 cocoa season, describing the situation as unprecedented in the history of the institution.
Dr Abbey made the disclosure during an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Monday, February 9, 2026.
According to him, the cocoa had already been sold to international buyers at an average price of about US$2,600 per tonne, but COCOBOD was unable to supply the contracted volumes as agreed.
Contracts Rolled Over Amid Price Surge
Dr Abbey explained that the undelivered cocoa volumes were rolled over into subsequent seasons at the original contract price, creating intense financial pressure for COCOBOD at a time when global cocoa prices had skyrocketed to between US$9,000 and US$12,000 per tonne.
As a result, the board was compelled to use much higher-priced cocoa to service contracts that had been locked in at significantly lower prices, leading to substantial losses.
“In 2023/2024, COCOBOD failed to honour 333,767 tonnes of cocoa that it had sold to buyers at an average of US$2,600. It could not supply them — the first time in the history of COCOBOD,” Dr Abbey stated.
Syndicated Loan Collapse Deepened Crisis
The COCOBOD CEO further disclosed that the situation was aggravated by the collapse of the board’s syndicated loan during the 2023–2024 season. Attempts to secure financing for the 2024/2025 season were unsuccessful after banks failed to respond to COCOBOD’s request for proposals.
According to Dr Abbey, lenders expressed doubts about the board’s ability to meet cocoa supply obligations due to ongoing production constraints.
“In 2024/2025, COCOBOD issued a request for proposals and the banks did not respond because they did not believe the cocoa could be supplied. So the contracts were rolled over again at US$2,600,” he explained.
Losses from Producer Price Mismatch
Dr Abbey also revealed that COCOBOD incurred losses because the producer price paid to farmers during the period stood at approximately US$3,100 per tonne, exceeding the contract price by about US$500 per tonne.
“We even ended up making losses because the producer price paid to farmers was US$3,100,” he noted.
Scale of Shortfall Significant
Despite the challenges, COCOBOD managed to clear about 235,000 tonnes of the outstanding contracts in the first year — nearly two-thirds of the total volume. However, Dr Abbey emphasized that the magnitude of the shortfall was severe, noting that the undelivered cocoa represented more than half of an estimated annual production of 600,000 tonnes.
“For every tonne used to service these contracts, you had a shortfall of US$500. And we are not talking about 30,000 or 50,000 tonnes. We are talking about 333,767 tonnes — more than 50 per cent of expected annual production,” he said.
Deep-Seated Structural Challenges
Dr Abbey said the episode underscores the depth of the challenges confronting COCOBOD, particularly the combined effects of supply constraints, pricing mismatches, and financing difficulties on the board’s operations.
The revelations add to growing national debate over the sustainability of Ghana’s cocoa sector and the urgent need for structural reforms to safeguard the country’s most important agricultural export.