"The price review for the coming season will not leave cocoa farmers short-changed," he said at a cocoa conference in the city of Kumasi. "Government will make sure that the producer prices remain unchanged."

The world's number two cocoa producer has kept the price at which it buys beans from farmers at $1,914 per tonne since a year ago, creating a large price gap with its neighbour Ivory Coast which holds the number one spot.

At the weekend, Ivory Coast set the farmer price at the same level of last season's mid-crop but below growers' expectations, raising concerns about cross-border smuggling.  Ghana's 2017/18 cocoa season opens on Oct. 13 and Ivory Coast's opened on Oct. 1.