(Ecofin Agency) - In Ghana, the 2017-18 cocoa mid-crop kicked off yesterday July 1 with the same farm gate price compared to the main season.

“The producer price to be paid at all buying centers is 228 cedis per load of 30 kilograms for Grade 1 and II cocoa beans naked ex-scale, or 475 cedis per bag of 64 kilograms gross. A ton of 16 bags is 7,600 cedis,” Cocobod spokesman Noah Amenya said, adding that purchases should really start today July 2. 

The country which took out a $1.3 billion syndicated loan last September, plans to produce 850,000 tons of the beans in 2017/2018. The sector employs nearly 800,000 producers and accounts for nearly 9% of GDP.

Espoir Olodo