Urgent Search for New Markets

The next stage is to go the whole hog and export chocolates too

Ghana is no longer the world's leading cocoa producer, but it produces the best quality crop, which is worth $50 (£31) more a tonne than its competitors.

It safeguards the crop's reputation, says John Newman, chairman of Cocobod, the state-run cocoa marketeting board, by a thorough process of quality control.

But Mr Newman insists: "The quality of Ghana cocoa really comes from the farmer" - 98 per cent of cocoa is produced by smallholders.

The farmer's relationship with his crop is such that he pays particular attention to the tree and beans to ensure he maintains the quality his forefathers handed down to him.

Cocoa is grown in six of Ghana's ten regions. Nearly half the population relies on it as a source of income. More than 400,000 tonnes a year are produced, worth about $400 million, making cocoa the country's second largest export earner after gold and worth 13 per cent of gross domestic product.

However, the halving of the cocoa price during the past 18 months has forced Cocobod to seek new markets.

Now Ghana is hoping to move into the
newer African and Arab markets

Promotional trade missions have been dispatched to China, Japan and South East Asia.

Some value is being added by converting cocoa beans to butter and cocoa paste.

But, says Mr Newman, the biggest value addition would come from going the whole hog and producing their own chocolates.

In an international market dominated by Mars, Cadbury and Nestlé, companies that spend an average of $40 million on marketing and promotion, the competition is tough.

Consequently, Ghana is attempting to move into the newer Arab and African markets. Cocobod's target is to increase processing from 20 per cent to 35 per cent of production.

Since 1992, under the Government's privatisation policies, Cocobod has been gradually loosening its grip on the cocoa business. Private buyers are increasingly licensed to participate in purchasing from farmers.

From October, 30 per cent of the external marketing of cocoa will be carried out by a score of licensed buying companies who will have purchased the cocoa from the farmers.

This is a fundamental change, says Mr Newman, but everything is being done to ensure that quality control is maintained.

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