Production, trade & prices

COCOBOD's declared purchases (production in the 2020/21 report) were 835,466 t in 2012/13, 969,540 t in 2016/17, 770,694 t in 2019/20 and 1,047,385 t in 2020/21, the last season with a published annual report¹²³⁴. For 2023/24 a Cabinet release published by COCOBOD gives actual production of 432,145 t against 786,672 t contracted in advance, while the 2026 Budget gives output of 530,783 t for 2023/24 and 603,840 t for 2024/25, and the two sources are not reconciled⁵⁶. The World Bank reports average cocoa yields of 541 kg/ha in 2018–2021, and a 2017 survey cited by COCOBOD found 315,886 ha of 1.9 million ha of cocoa farms lost to swollen shoot virus disease⁷⁸.

The producer price rose from GH¢7,600 per tonne in 2016/17 to GH¢58,000 from 3 October 2025, was set at GH¢41,392 from 12 February 2026 and at GH¢42,400 for 2026/27, about US$3,770 at the Bank of Ghana rate of end-August 2026 (own conversion)^2951011. In July 2025 COCOBOD described a stabilisation support that kept the price at GH¢49,600 per tonne when the nominal price was US$3,100¹². The 2026/27 price represents 71.18% of the realised gross FOB value, and COCOBOD states that the Ghana Cocoa Board Act, 2026 guarantees farmers at least 70%¹⁰.

MoFA estimated maize production at 3.20 million t in 2021, up from 1.95 million t in 2012, and paddy rice at 1.14 million t, up from 0.48 million t²⁶. Cassava (25.0 million t), yam (10.3 million t) and plantain (6.2 million t) were the largest crops by weight in 2021²⁶. Average yields in 2021 were below the potential rain-fed yields published by MoFA for each of the eleven selected food crops shown, from 35.3% of potential for yam (as printed) to 84.5% for sorghum²⁶. MoFA has not published estimates after 2021, and FAOSTAT shows maize at 3.79 million t and paddy rice at 1.72 million t in 2024, the maize figure from international organisations²⁷.

FAOSTAT records 9.58 million goats, 6.18 million sheep and 2.36 million cattle in 2024, values imputed by FAO from earlier MoFA projections²⁷²⁶. Fish production was 628,617 t in 2021, of which 393,970 t marine, 145,272 t inland and 89,375 t from aquaculture²⁶. Ghana imported US$208.7 million of fish and seafood in 2025, 30.4% of it from Mauritania (own calculation)²⁸.

The map shows where Ghana's agri-food products go and where they come from. In 2025 Ghana reported US$6,319.8 million of agri-food exports and US$2,903.7 million of imports²⁸. The Netherlands was the largest buyer, at US$1,367.7 million, 91.2% of it cocoa and cocoa products, followed by the United States (US$942.9 million) and India (US$564.8 million, 88.0% of it fruit and nuts) (own calculations)²⁸. EU-27 members took 47.2% of agri-food exports (own calculation)²⁸. On the import side Vietnam supplied US$268.7 million, 97.7% of it cereals, and Brazil US$249.1 million, including sugar (US$72.5 million) and meat (US$62.2 million) (own calculation)²⁸.

Agri-food exports were between US$3.05 billion and US$4.81 billion a year in the years reported in 2015–2024 (no data for 2020) and US$6.32 billion in 2025, when cocoa and cocoa product exports reached US$4.47 billion against US$2.01 billion in 2024³⁰. COCOBOD's FOB reference for the producer price was US$4,850 per tonne for 2024/25 and US$7,200 for the opening price of 2025/26²⁴. Cereal imports fell from US$838.3 million in 2015 to US$255.9 million in 2024 and were US$383.2 million in 2025³⁰. Ghana ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement on 7 May 2018, and its stepping-stone Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU has been provisionally applied since 15 December 2016³¹³².

Food inflation reached 61.0% in January 2023 and fell to 2.2% in April 2026, and in September 2026 it was 3.98% against headline inflation of 5.22%³³. Annual average food inflation was 47.8% in 2023, 24.6% in 2024 and 16.9% in 2025³³. MoFA's rural wholesale price of maize rose from GH¢870 per tonne in 2012 to GH¢2,712 in 2021, and no later official staple price series was found²⁶. The Tree Crops Development Authority set a minimum price of GH¢9.01 per kg of raw shea nut from 1 June 2026³⁴.