Joseph Bermah Dautey, a Ghanaian cocoa Farmer, delivered six bags of beans to be sold months ago, but is still waiting for payment from the country’s regulator, forcing the 65-year-old to limit his meals to one a day.
He is among thousands of farmers in Ghana, the world’s second biggest cocoa producer, struggling to find money to buy food, pay for their children’s school fees and invest in basic farm maintenance as thousands of tons of unsold beans have piled up.
The situation is comparable in Ivory Coast, the biggest producer, as global cocoa demand has fallen sharply, leading global prices to halve over the course of a year to two-year lows of around $4 000 a metric ton.
Before that, a poor crop had led to a price spike on international markets.
Dautey, who previously worked as a teacher, told Reuters he was unable to pay for his older daughter’s tuition and that his younger daughter keeps calling him asking for money.
To maintain a 25-acre farm in Assin Foso, a major cocoa-growing district, he spent 3 600 cedis ($328.77) using borrowed funds and still owes 2 000 cedis.
“For about three weeks now, I eat once a day, things are very difficult for me,” Dautey said. “It has affected my life so much that I cannot even describe it.”
Another farmer, Jacob Agbeko Tetteh, told Reuters his children could not return to university because he has also not been paid for six bags of cocoa he delivered. He lacks funds to replace ageing cocoa trees, whose yield has declined.
—Reuters—
