“Salary cuts won’t fix Cocoa crisis” – Dr Kwaku Afriyie demands deep reforms at COCOBOD
24th February 2026
Former Member of Parliament for Sefwi-Wiawso and cocoa farmer, Kwaku Afriyie, has called for a comprehensive restructuring of Ghana’s cocoa sector, warning that cutting staff salaries at the Ghana Cocoa Board will do little to resolve the industry’s long-standing problems.
Speaking on Dwaso Nsem on Adom FM, Dr Afriyie dismissed recent discussions around salary reductions as cosmetic rather than curative.
“The salary cut of staff will not solve our problem,” he said. “If it helps the government for the optics, that’s fine, but it doesn’t address the real issues.”
According to him, the challenges confronting the cocoa sector are rooted in deeper structural and governance failures, not payroll costs. He argued that timely and professional advice could have prevented some of the current difficulties, particularly around pricing commitments made to farmers.
“They should have been able to properly advise the government when promises like the GH¢6,000 price were being made,” he noted, stressing that technical competence must override political expediency, even during transitions of power.
Dr Afriyie insisted that COCOBOD urgently needs to be depoliticised and retooled with skilled professionals who understand the industry.
“We need professionals at COCOBOD. Real professionals,” he said, describing the institution as “overbloated and politicised.”
He further argued that cocoa farming in practice operates like a private-sector industry, with farmers taking significant risks to secure capital and financing.
“Cocoa farmers will go to every extent to raise their own funding and capital. Then a government comes in and loads COCOBOD with political apparatchiks, and suddenly the institution is seen purely as a political entity,” he lamented.
Dr Afriyie called on all political parties to collectively end partisan interference in the cocoa sector, warning that continued politicisation erodes credibility, efficiency and farmer confidence.
“Across all the parties, we need to stop that,” he urged.
His remarks add momentum to the growing national debate on cocoa sector reforms, as stakeholders increasingly demand structural changes that go beyond short-term fixes to secure the future of Ghana’s most important cash crop and protect the livelihoods of cocoa farmers.