Management of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has rebuffed claims of a collapsed cocoa sector by former President John Dramani Mahama.
The claims, it said, are misleading and detrimental to a vital sector like cocoa, which forms the foundation of Ghana’s economy.
According to COCOBOD, it continues to invest in interventions that ensure not just the sustenance but the growth of the cocoa sector.
These, it says include the Hand Pollination Programme, Mass Pruning Programme and the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme, which is the biggest intervention that has ever been made to reverse the major threats that face the industry.
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This was contained in a rejoinder by CCOBOD following publications on certain media platforms citing statements by the former President alluding to a collapse of Ghana’s cocoa sector.
Mr. Mahama reportedly made these statements while touring the Western North Region, claiming the producer price and mismanagement have collapsed the cocoa sector.
Setting the records straight, however, COCOBOD argued that galamsey operations pose a significant danger to the nation, and any attempts to justify or rationalise the conversion of a piece of land, especially a cocoa farm, into a Galamsey site, like the Former President sought to do, must be met with contempt.
“This menace has the potential to negate all the investments made by the government to modernise cocoa farming and improve productivity. It is, therefore, crucial that prominent figures in our society exercise caution when making public statements that rationalize cocoa farmers trading their farms for temporary monetary benefit through illegal mining,” the statement said.
According to management, the Former President’s statement regarding the increase in cocoa producer prices every year during his administration is inaccurate, since the records available point to the opposite.
“Specifically, there was no upward adjustment of the producer price of cocoa in the 2012/2013 Crop Season. Similarly, the producer price of the preceding season was maintained for the 2015/2016 Crop Season, with no upward adjustment.”
“Indeed, within a three-year period of the Former President’s administration, i.e. the 2010/2011 to 2012/2013 crop season, there was a total of six (6) per cent increase in the producer price. In contrast, within the last three years, there has been a 23 per cent, 0 per cent and a 21 per cent increase in the producer price of cocoa.”
The producer price, it argued, is largely determined by international market prices as well as other industry costs, but every effort is made to arrive at a producer price that is fair to farmers even when international market conditions are unfavourable.
COCOBOD assured that the cocoa industry is not collapsing as being portrayed by the Former President, and indicated that Ghana recorded its highest-ever cocoa production volume of one million and forty-five thousand five hundred metric tonnes (1,045,500) in the 2020/21 Crop Season.
It stated the cocoa sector which holds the position as the second highest producer in the world cannot also be said to have collapsed.
According to the Board, through a facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB), a total of 38,515.54 hectares of otherwise diseased and unproductive cocoa farms have been fully rehabilitated so far, and some 59,151.44 hectares have also been treated.
The process of restoring other diseased farms, it says, is ongoing across the country.
The statement disclosed that COCOBOD, for the first time in the history of the industry, is enrolling cocoa farmers across the country on the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme (CFPS) to ensure a decent retirement.
The Board expressed its commitment to supporting farmers and ensuring the sustainability of the cocoa industry and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to achieve its goals.
