According to a new Ecobank Group report, about 100 metric tonnes of cocoa has so far been smuggled to Ivory cost just for this season.
A development that is certain to affect the country’s quest to export about 1 million tonnes of beans for the next season.
The report states that the cedi’s depreciation has seen the real income of cocoa farmers decline, forcing some of them to smuggle their beans to Ivory Cost because they are getting about 58 percent more than what they would be getting in Ghana.
For instance while a farmer in Ivory cost would earn about 1,554 dollars per metric tonne, a farmer in Ghana would take home 982 dollars for the same metric tons of cocoa beans.
Another factor that has fuelled the smuggling of the bean to Ivory Coast is COCOBOD’s delay to advance funds to the field at the start of the season.
Given that most licensed buying companies work under tight financing constraints, this has forced them to periodically suspend sales on credit to farmers, in turn forcing the cash-strapped farmers to sell their beans over the border.
To address this COCOBOD has stepped up its efforts to recruit local communities in the border area to help identify smugglers and intercept smuggling routes.
