Ghana seeks to boost economic value through cocoa and cashew processing

Ghana is implementing strategies to increase domestic processing of its key agricultural commodities, cocoa and cashew, to retain more economic value.

In the cocoa sector, Germany has expressed support for a new policy requiring at least 50% of Ghana’s cocoa beans to be processed locally starting from the 2026/27 crop season. This initiative, part of reforms under the Ghana Cocoa Board Act, aims to move the industry beyond bean exportation toward the production of high-value finished products like chocolate. German Ambassador Frederik Landshöft noted that companies like Fairafric are already contributing to this value-addition model.

Simultaneously, Ghana faces economic pressure in its cashew industry. While the country produces approximately 262,000 metric tonnes of raw cashew nuts annually, it processes less than six percent locally. Most nuts are exported raw to India and Vietnam. In contrast, Côte d’Ivoire has aggressively expanded its local processing sector, growing its production significantly and creating thousands of direct jobs, posing a competitive challenge to Ghana’s ability to capture industry profits and support local farmers.