A new study has called for a major rethinking of climate adaptation and sustainability policies in Ghana's cocoa sector, arguing that future investments must focus not only on protecting cocoa trees and boosting production but also on strengthening the resilience of cocoa producers.
The call was made at a gathering in Accra to discuss findings from the study titled "Towards a Cocoa Producer-Focused Climate Policy in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana."
The research, conducted by scholars from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and partner institutions such as Harvard University, the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research and the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) in Côte d'Ivoire, argues that current climate adaptation strategies remain overly focused on cocoa production while paying insufficient attention to cocoa producers.
A Research and Policy Breakfast attracted researchers, policymakers, cocoa cooperatives, industry actors, development partners, civil society organisations, and representatives from Ghana's cocoa sector.
Presenting the findings, Dr. Albert Arhin of KNUST's Institute for Rural Development and Innovation Studies (IRDIS) noted that climate adaptation efforts in the cocoa sector have traditionally focused on increasing yields, controlling pests and diseases, and improving environmental sustainability.
He argued that while these interventions remain important, they are no longer sufficient on their own.
"Climate change is not only affecting cocoa trees. It is affecting the people who grow cocoa. Farmers are reporting rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, declining yields, increasing production costs, physical exhaustion, and growing uncertainty about the future of cocoa farming. These human dimensions of climate change require much greater policy attention," said Dr. Arhin.
The research was undertaken across cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire and combined household surveys, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and participatory research methods to capture farmers' experiences and perspectives.
According to the findings, many cocoa farmers are experiencing increasing difficulty managing climate-related shocks. Farmers reported working fewer hours during periods of extreme heat, facing rising labour demands, and struggling to implement adaptation measures due to financial constraints. Some also expressed concerns about whether younger generations would remain interested in cocoa farming under increasingly challenging conditions.
The study comes at a critical time for Ghana's cocoa sector. National production has declined in recent years, falling from historical averages of around 800,000 tonnes to approximately 600,000 tonnes. While several factors contribute to this trend, including pests, diseases, ageing farms, and rising production costs, farmers consistently identified climate change as a major source of growing vulnerability.
The researchers also found that many existing interventions, including price-based measures, have limited effectiveness when climate-related production losses continue to reduce the volume of cocoa available for sale.
Although initiatives such as the Living Income Differential (LID) have increased cocoa prices, many farmers continue to struggle with declining productivity and rising costs.
The policy brief launched at the event proposes an Eight-Point Agenda for a Producer-Centred Climate Policy. The recommendations include shifting from yield-centred policies towards producer-centred resilience, integrating climate adaptation with income support, investing in climate-smart water management, strengthening adaptation financing, improving farmer participation in decision-making, and incorporating farmer wellbeing into sustainability frameworks.
The researchers argue that the long-term competitiveness of Ghana's cocoa sector will increasingly depend on the resilience of its producers.
"Healthy and resilient farmers are the foundation of healthy and productive cocoa farms. If climate change continues to erode farmer health, labour productivity, and adaptive capacity, then cocoa production itself will become increasingly vulnerable," Dr Arhin explained.
Participants at the policy breakfast welcomed the findings and engaged in discussions on how government agencies, COCOBOD, the private sector, development partners, and research institutions can work together to strengthen resilience across cocoa-growing communities.
The study challenges conventional approaches that primarily view climate adaptation through the lens of productivity and environmental protection. Instead, it calls for a broader understanding of resilience that includes health, livelihoods, labour conditions, access to finance, water security, and social wellbeing.
The research was supported by the Harvard University Center for African Studies through the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa. The broader research team includes Dr Carla Martin (Harvard University), Dr Albert Arhin (KNUST), Jose Lopez Ganem (Institute for Cocoa and Chocolate Research), Dr Amanda Berlan (University of Leicester), Richard Tetteh (KNUST), Dr Michael Ehis Odijie (University of Oxford), and Jean-Luc Kouassi (Côte d'Ivoire).
The researchers hope the findings will contribute to ongoing policy debates and encourage greater investment in producer resilience as a pathway to securing the future of Ghana's cocoa economy.
As climate pressures intensify across West Africa, the study concludes that safeguarding Ghana's cocoa future will require more than protecting cocoa farms. It will also require protecting the farmers who sustain them.
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