Thousands of cocoa farmers in Ghana have gone unpaid for months as the country’s indebted state-owned cocoa buyer struggles to stay afloat under mounting financial pressure and the threat of asset seizures, according to a company source and court documents seen by Reuters.
The crisis at Producer Buying Company (PBC), Ghana’s buyer of last resort for cocoa farmers, has raised fears of worsening hardship in rural communities already grappling with falling cocoa prices, weak demand and rising production costs.
PBC has accumulated debts of 673 million cedis (around US$60 million), leaving it unable to purchase cocoa beans from farmers or settle outstanding payments owed for produce already delivered, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said some farmers had not been paid since November 2025.
“Farmers are losing confidence,” the source said. “The company currently has no liquidity to continue purchases.”
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The financial troubles come despite a pledge by Ghana’s government earlier this year to restore PBC as the leading cocoa buying company in the country.
In February, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson described the revival of the company as central to the government’s efforts to support cocoa farmers and stabilise the sector.
But three months later, the source said, there had been no concrete rescue plan or further discussions with the finance ministry regarding the company’s future.
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The difficulties facing PBC underscore the broader challenges confronting Ghana’s cocoa industry, a cornerstone of the national economy and one of the world’s largest cocoa producers alongside neighbouring Ivory Coast.
Ghana’s cocoa sector has struggled in recent months due to a combination of lower global prices, stronger harvests elsewhere and weaker demand from chocolate manufacturers.
The downturn has squeezed revenues throughout the supply chain, from farmers to exporters and state institutions.
Under Ghana’s cocoa marketing system, Licensed Buying Companies such as PBC purchase cocoa from farmers before selling it to the Ghana Cocoa Board, known as COCOBOD, which then markets the beans internationally.
The company source said COCOBOD had yet to reimburse PBC for around 800 metric tons of cocoa delivered more than two months ago.
COCOBOD has publicly maintained that funds were being disbursed to licensed buying companies, but the source said PBC had not received any financial support.
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Neither COCOBOD nor Ghana’s finance ministry responded to requests for comment from Reuters.
The mounting debt burden has also triggered legal action.
A consortium of five Ghanaian banks owed 257 million cedis secured a court order in March authorising the sale of PBC assets to recover outstanding loans, according to the source.
Two of the banks involved are state-owned institutions.
PBC’s liabilities also include more than two years of unpaid staff salaries, arrears owed to suppliers and outstanding statutory obligations, the source added.
The company’s market position has deteriorated sharply over the past decade.
Once responsible for roughly 30 percent of domestic cocoa purchases, PBC now accounts for less than five percent of the market, according to the source.
Analysts say the decline reflects growing competition from private buying companies as well as persistent operational and financial weaknesses.
For cocoa farmers, the consequences have been severe.
Many smallholders depend almost entirely on cocoa sales for household income, school fees and healthcare costs.
Delayed payments have left some farmers unable to prepare for the next planting season or maintain their farms.
Industry observers warn that prolonged instability in the cocoa sector could also encourage smuggling of beans into neighbouring countries where farmers may receive faster or higher payments.
The source said a targeted intervention by COCOBOD could still help stabilise PBC if authorities directed more international cocoa contracts through the company and released emergency purchasing funds.
Despite its financial struggles, PBC remains one of the few buyers operating across all 127 cocoa-growing districts in Ghana, giving it a reach unmatched by many private competitors.
“This company still has the infrastructure and national presence,” the source said. “Without support, the impact on farmers could become much worse.”
