Accra - Ghana ranks second as world producer of cocoa for the year 1999, with an output of 420,000 metric tonnes. The output of the crop for the 1999 season contributed 15.3% to the world output. The same percentage output margin was recorded in 1998.

In that year, the country produced 409,000 metric tonnes of cocoa. Cote d' Ivoire remains the world leading cocoa producer.

The average output of cocoa during the second half of the 1990s was 372,000 metric tonnes, about 33% higher than the average output during the first half of the decade.

Ghana's contribution of the world's output of cocoa also increased to 13.9% in the second half of the decade as compared to 11.5% during the first half of the decade.

Cocoa remains the major traditional agricultural export commodity of the country. Market watches predict the situation will remain the same for several years to come.