%0 Journal Article %T Farmers¡¯ Assessment of Benefits and Constraints of Ghana¡¯s Cocoa Sector Reform %A Benjamin Tetteh Anang %A Kwame Adusei %A Ebenezer Mintah %J Current Research Journal of Social Science %D 2011 %I Maxwell Science Publication %X This study looked at farmers¡¯ assessment of the benefits and constraints of Ghana¡¯s cocoa sector reform. The study was conducted with 80 randomly selected cocoa farmers from four communities in Bibiani- Anhwiaso-Bekwai District, Western Region, Ghana. Results show that farmers are happy with the introduction of privatization in cocoa marketing. Majority of the farmers (93%) rated the performance of licensed buying companies highly. Results showed that after privatization, the benefits derivable to cocoa farmers included: prompt payments for produce sold; provision of inputs, loans, bonuses and incentives by buying companies; and nearness to produce sales point. In terms of the constraints, pests and diseases were the highest followed by long distances in transporting cocoa from the farm to drying sheds. Theft of cocoa beans during drying was the least constraint. Close to 59% of farmers were dissatisfied with the price they received for their produce. It was recommended that the Cocoa Diseases and Pests Control Exercise Committee (CODAPEC) should be monitored to ensure that cocoa farms are properly sprayed to control pests and diseases in order to sustainably enhance output and product quality. %K Cocoa marketing reforms %K Kendall¡¯s concordance analysis %K licensed buying companies %K marketing behavior %K partial liberalization %K perceptions %U http://maxwellsci.com/jp/abstract.php?jid=CRJSS&no=125&abs=13