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Growth through Pricing Policy: The Case of Cocoa in Ghana

Year of publication 2018

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 30

Author Marcella Vigneri and Shashi Kolavalli

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Category Technical book

ISBN 978-92-5-130104-3

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Cocoa has and continues to play a central role in the economy of Ghana which is now the second largest producer of cocoa beans in the world. But it has not always been so. At its nadir in the early eighties, the cocoa sector was one half of what it was in the decade after independence. The paper argues that the key to this success is anchored to specific strategies put in place and managed by the state-run marketing board, COCOBOD. An important strategy was to pass on an increasing share of export prices to producers, which with growing global prices in the 2000’s gave producers higher real prices. Two major government programmes – also initiated in early 2000’s – offered farmers improved varieties, subsidized fertilizer and free pest and disease control. These programmes triggered a cocoa revolution by enabling farmers to more than double their yields. This transformation was inclusive because cocoa production remains traditional and labour intensive, and enabled smallholders to intensify production to a greater extent compared to large holders. Improved land productivity contributed to reduced poverty, where incidence rates among cocoa growing households have nearly halved since 2005.

Language English

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