President John Evans Atta Mills has asked COCOBOD to further improve on the high technology for cocoa production popularly known as the High-Tech as well as the spraying exercise to increase yield per hectare.
Currently the production level of cocoa in the country is 400 kilogrammes per hectare which could be increased to 700 kilograms per hectare if the best farming techniques were to be applied.
These, he said, would enable the country to meet the one million tonnes target for cocoa production in 2012.
The President made the call in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Alfred Tia Sugri, at the Cocoa Producers Alliance (COPAL) Cocoa Day, which was observed at Suhum in the Eastern Region on Wednesday.
The event, on the theme “Consume More Cocoa for Better Health and a Better Ghana”, brought together a number of Ministers of State such as the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, some Members of Parliament, district chief executives, traditional rulers and cocoa farmers, including the 2008 best cocoa farmer, Mr Clement Kumah.
Varieties of cocoa products, modern farming tools and chemicals for cocoa cultivation were also showcased at the gathering.
According to President Atta Mills, the current low farm productivity of less than 500 kilogrammes per hectare was an issue of concern and that if Ghana should achieve the target of one million tonnes of cocoa and beyond by 2012, then there was the need for COCOBOD to review its technical intervention, particularly the High-tech and mass spraying exercise.
That, he said, could be done by identifying and addressing the major problems besetting the two programmes to move farm productivity to an appreciable level.
The government, President Atta Mills stated, was also doing its best in that respect by voting money for the rehabilitation of cocoa farms, while efforts were being made to institute an insurance scheme for cocoa farmers, which, according to him, were all geared towards boosting cocoa production.
The President called on traditional rulers and the various municipal and district assemblies to come up with a comprehensive programme to get the youth involved in cocoa production for them to take over from ageing farmers, adding that the government was also making available more resources to the assemblies to provide basic amenities in cocoa-producing areas to attract the youth to stay in such places.
He also appealed to all stakeholders in the cocoa industry for support in curbing cocoa smuggling.
President Atta Mills further called on Ghanaians to patronise finished goods made from cocoa beans so as to encourage domestic processing of cocoa.
With regard to the welfare of cocoa farmers, President Atta Mills said his government would always strive to put in place the best of measures that would improve their welfare and motivate them to produce more and expressed his appreciation to cocoa farmers whose sweat, toil and sacrifices had contributed to the development of the country.
In a speech which was read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Tekper, the sector Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, asked licensed buying agencies to use the seed fund that COCOBOD would advance to them to promptly pay cocoa farmers for their produce before the re-opening of the 2009/2010 cocoa season.
He further asked cocoa farmers to insist that all the quantities of cocoa purchased from them were recorded in their passbooks so that they would get the corresponding bonuses.
The Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr. Tony Fofie, dwelt on various aspects of the cocoa industry and said cocoa products were good for one’s health and must be patronised.
He, however, stated that the only way to increase local consumption of cocoa products, especially chocolate, was to make their prices affordable so that parents would be able to buy them for their children.
He advised cocoa farmers to use only the approved agro-chemicals to spray their farms.
The Secretary-General of COBAL, Mr Sona Ebai, dwelt on the use of child labour on cocoa farms in some of the cocoa-producing countries and said the US Government had made available $20.8 million for countries identified to eradicate child labour on cocoa farms.
In his welcoming speech, the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said although the region took the first position in the initial stages of cocoa production, it had now been overtaken by three regions.
He said since the region had good soil, climate, good roads and a cocoa research institute, it had the comparative advantage over the other regions for which it was prepared to participate in the production of the crop to make it possible for the country to attain its 2012 target.
He also called for the inclusion of cocoa products in the menu of the school feeding programme.
The Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, who chaired the function, suggested that more cocoa processing factories must be set up to add value to raw cocoa.
He also expressed concern about the wanton destruction of the environment by illegal chainsaw operators and miners (”galamsey”) and called for the arrest of any chief in Akyem Abuakwa who would give out land to “galamsey operators”.
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