Stakeholders across the cocoa value chain have welcomed the decision by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to implement salary reductions for its top officials as part of efforts to address liquidity challenges in the sector.

Under the new measures, members of COCOBOD’s Executive Management will take a 20 per cent pay cut, while senior staff will accept a 10 per cent reduction for the remainder of the 2025/2026 crop year.

In an interview with Citi News, President of the Ghana National Association of Cocoa Farmers, Stephenson Anane Boateng, described the move as appropriate.

“We were expecting it to be 30 per cent, considering their salaries. Now that they have settled on 20 per cent, we are okay. It shows they have taken our concerns into account, unlike before,” he said.

COCOBOD, in a statement dated Monday, February 16, 2026, announced that the salary reductions take immediate effect and will remain in force for the rest of the current crop year.

The Board explained that the decision forms part of wider cost-containment measures aimed at aligning expenditure with revenue levels. Management also indicated that additional reforms, including tighter procurement controls and a staff rationalisation exercise, are being rolled out to stabilise the institution’s finances.