Ghana Cocoa Purchases Plunge as Disease Decimates Farmers’ Crops

(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa purchase volumes in Ghana are plunging as farmers’ crops are being decimated by disease, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The world’s second-biggest cocoa producer bought 2,758 tons of beans from purchasing agents in the first two weeks of the light harvest through July 4, a decline of more than three-quarters from the same period a year ago, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Fiifi Boafo, a spokesman for Ghana Cocoa Board, didn’t answer calls or respond to a text message for comment. Calls to his deputy didn’t connect.

Ghana has experienced an unusually severe outbreak of swollen-shoot virus, which can deform cocoa pods and reduce yields. The country’s cocoa regulator originally forecast 900,000 tons for the combined main and light crop, but cut its estimate to 850,000 tons and then 800,000 tons, people familiar with the matter said previously, after the disease affected crops in its biggest growing areas.

“The situation is very dire for cocoa farmers,” said Samuel Quainoo, a chief farmer who supervises 18,000 growers in the district of Enchi in Ghana’s Western North Region. “Many have lost almost all their sources of livelihood. Farmers have no money and only a third of their crops left to cultivate.”

Total purchases for the 2018-19 annual crop that started in October, inclusive of the bigger main harvest, were 779,176 tons at July 4, compared with 837,642 tons at July 12 in the previous season, said the people. The figure is for so-called graded and sealed deliveries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ekow Dontoh in Accra at edontoh@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andre Janse van Vuuren at ajansevanvuu@bloomberg.net, Alaric Nightingale

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