Ghana targets 100% local cocoa processing by 2030
The government has set an interim 2028 processing target and outlined investments in rice, sugar, oil palm and irrigation to strengthen domestic agricultural production.
GHANA – Ghana plans to process all its cocoa locally by 2030 as part of efforts to expand domestic value addition and end raw cocoa bean exports, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has announced.
Presenting the 2027 Budget Statement to Parliament on Thursday, November 12, Dr Forson said the government was targeting local processing of at least 50% of the country’s cocoa by the end of 2028 before achieving full domestic processing two years later.
“Ghana will process at least 50% of its cocoa locally by the end of 2028 and 100% by 2030, completing the transition towards a ban on raw cocoa exports,” he told Parliament.
The minister said the initiative would extend beyond primary cocoa grinding to include the production of cocoa liquor, butter, cake and powder, as well as finished products such as chocolate and cosmetics.
“The country that grows the bean must retain a far greater share of the industry built around it,” Dr Forson said.
The cocoa processing target is among eight interventions under the government’s commercial agriculture pillar, which also seeks to increase domestic production of rice, sugar, poultry and fish.
On rice, the government plans to prohibit commercial imports by the end of 2030 while strengthening local production, milling, storage, quality assurance and distribution.
“The rice on the Ghanaian table should increasingly come from a Ghanaian field, pass through a Ghanaian mill and support Ghanaian work,” the finance minister said.
Ghana also intends to achieve sugar self-sufficiency by 2030 through irrigated production zones, nucleus estates, organised outgrower schemes and commercially viable processing mills. Import permits and quotas will be reduced as verified domestic production increases.
In the oil palm sector, the government plans to establish 100,000 hectares of new plantations across the Western, Central, Eastern, Volta and Ashanti regions. The initiative is expected to generate 250,000 jobs and will receive support through a proposed US$500 million financing facility.
Dr Forson also announced a US$1 billion investment to complete the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam, which is expected to support irrigation, aquaculture and agro-processing activities.
The agricultural interventions form part of the government’s broader strategy to increase domestic production, reduce dependence on imports and create employment through commercial agriculture.
Through the proposed measures, Ghana intends to strengthen agricultural value chains and retain a greater share of the economic benefits generated from its agricultural commodities.
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