Saddick Adams Exposes How Street Coconut Sellers Earn GHS20,000 More Than The Farmers

Award-winning journalist Saddick Adams, known widely as Sports Obama, has sparked debate online after sharing a detailed breakdown of coconut pricing in Ghana on his official Facebook page on Thursday, September 26, 2025.

His post highlighted how coconuts move from farmers to the streets of Accra, showing the huge difference between farm prices and final selling prices.

According to the breakdown, farmers at Gomoa Afransi currently sell 100 coconuts for GHS120. This means the price of one coconut at the farm gate is only GHS1.20. For a farmer who manages to harvest 3,000 coconuts, the total income comes to GHS3,600.

Distributors buy the coconuts from farmers at this rate but also carry some extra costs. They pay people to pluck, carry, and load the coconuts onto trucks.

A truck driver transporting coconuts from Gomoa to Accra, for example, is paid around GHS1,800.

By calculation, after all expenses, distributors sell each coconut at GHS3.20, which adds about GHS2 on top of the farmer’s price. For 3,000 coconuts, a distributor makes about GHS9,600, including operational costs.

The biggest price jump, however, comes from the retailers and street sellers. In Accra today, a coconut is being sold for between GHS7 and GHS10.

If the 3,000 coconuts are sold at GHS8 each, the total comes to GHS24,000. Comparing this figure with the farmer’s income of GHS3,600 shows a massive difference of GHS20,400.

This revelation shocked many Ghanaians, who reacted strongly online. While some people defended the costs involved in distribution and retailing, others felt that the final price is unfair and too heavy for ordinary consumers.

Many argued that the farmers, who put in the hardest work, receive the smallest share, while the bigger profits end up in the hands of middlemen and retailers.

Saddick Adams’ post has once again brought attention to the rising cost of basic foods in Ghana. It has also sparked wider conversations about how pricing systems work in the country and whether farmers are being fairly compensated for their produce. As one follower, Annie Ampofo, put it simply: “Do the maths.” 

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