President Mahama urges COCOBOD to prioritise farmers’ welfare

President John Dramani Mahama has urged the leadership of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to embrace innovation by adopting modern technology and best agronomic practices to enhance yields without expanding farm sizes.

He emphasised the need to move beyond traditional farming methods to ensure increased productivity and sustainability in the cocoa sector.

President John Mahama said this when the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Dr. Ransford Anertey Abbey led members of the Cocoa Coffee & Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE) to pay a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House, Accra. 

President Mahama was grateful to the farmers for their continued pragmatic investments that have kept the cocoa, coffee and shea sector running.

He noted that the cocoa sector is saddled with financial challenges; mainly debts which have been accrued over the years and expressed optimism that the GHC32 billion debt owed by COCOBOD would be managed through fiscal discipline under the new leadership.  

Speaking on environmental protection, President Mahama underscored the need for legal measures to safeguard cocoa farms from destruction. 

“We will pass laws to protect cocoa trees and ensure they are not cut for mining. This way, we will improve the sector and save the environment.” 

He emphasized that preserving cocoa farmlands is crucial for the sustainability of the industry and the well-being of future generations. The President pledged to revamp the cocoa sector which is fraught with challenges including illegal mining, smuggling and inadequate input supply to farmers.

He also hinted of plans to diversify the sector, disclosing that Ghana and Columbia are in talks to collaborate in coffee production. He expressed trust in the discussions held with the heads of the Sahel states to lift the ban on the export of shea fruits for processing as a major step to augment Ghana’s annual production level of about 70,000 metric tonnes.

In a speech read on his behalf, Alhaji Alhassan Bukari, the national president of COCOSHE noted that the shea sector which is equally important as cocoa and contributes to foreign revenue generation is badly affected with the collapse of the Buipe shea processing plant leading to job losses.

Alhaji Bukari however expressed his trust in the president to revamp the Buipe Shea factory to play its befitting role in Ghana’s economy.

He reiterated COCOSHE’s plea for government to prioritise farmers welfare which is an incentive to boost production while calling for stringent measures to curb cocoa smuggling which has become detrimental to the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

“Ghana is losing volumes of cocoa in this illicit activity to our neighbours, shoring up their production levels and reducing ours. Illegal mining is taking over the lands of our cocoa farmers to their displeasure and forcing some of them to watch helplessly,” he bemoaned.

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