Responsible Agricultural Practices of a Cocoa Buying Company in Ghana

The document evaluates a small and medium-sized licensed buying company (LBC) in Ghana's cocoa sector using the RAI Tool for Agribusiness. While the company demonstrates high compliance in inclusive structures and stakeholder treatment, it shows significant gaps in formal strategy, human resource development, and environmental impact management. The study highlights the challenges faced by local SMEs competing with multinational enterprises, including limited access to affordable finance and climate-related yield declines. It recommends digitizing transaction processes, formalizing grievance mechanisms, and developing a structured strategy to move beyond ad hoc responsible business conduct.

• The company's overall compliance with the CFS-RAI is deemed acceptable, but there is significant variance across different business dimensions.
• The company scores very high in inclusive and transparent structures, maintaining close consultation with local stakeholders and farmers, although grievance resolution remains largely informal.
• Compliance regarding strategy and accountability is relatively low, as the company focuses on operational survival and handles responsible business conduct on an ad hoc basis rather than through a formal strategy.
• The company contributes to food security and nutrition indirectly through employment for approximately 2,000 purchasing clerks and 20,000 farmers, and directly by promoting alternative livelihoods such as snail and grasscutter production.
• Environmental compliance is low, particularly in implementing sustainable practices, although the company manages specific operational risks and employs a sustainability manager.
• The company performs well in respecting land tenure rights and fair contracting, including partnering with organizations to register land rights for farmers to prevent land loss during replanting.
• Human resource development compliance is low due to a lack of systematized procedures; while an 'open-door' management style exists, there are no formal policies for non-discrimination or specific targets for women and youth.
• Financial transparency is high, but benefit sharing with local communities is low due to the company's limited financial capacity as an SME.
• The cocoa industry in Ghana faces critical challenges including climate-driven yield declines, high certification costs, and farmers' inability to access affordable working capital, with some private loan rates reaching 100% over six months.

APA

Mirza, H., & Pringle, D. (2024). Responsible Agricultural Practices of a Cocoa Buying Company in Ghana. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-08/responsible-agricultural-investment-ghana-cocoa.pdf

Chicago

Mirza, Hafiz, and Duncan Pringle. Responsible Agricultural Practices of a Cocoa Buying Company in Ghana. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-08/responsible-agricultural-investment-ghana-cocoa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mirza |first1=Hafiz |last2=Pringle |first2=Duncan |title=Responsible Agricultural Practices of a Cocoa Buying Company in Ghana |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=June 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-08/responsible-agricultural-investment-ghana-cocoa.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mirza2024responsible, author = {Mirza, Hafiz and Pringle, Duncan}, title = {{Responsible Agricultural Practices of a Cocoa Buying Company in Ghana}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-08/responsible-agricultural-investment-ghana-cocoa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }