Dr Ransford Abbey, the Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has charged cocoa farmers in the Oti Region to increase their production from 1,300 tonnes to 60,000 tonnes by 2026.
Dr Abbey said this during a tour in cocoa-growing areas in the Oti Region with the aim to address challenges, listen to farmer concerns, and promote collaboration within the cocoa industry.
The decline in forex inflows from cocoa is exacerbated by illegal mining activities, smuggling, and crop diseases, all of which have significantly impacted yields.
In just three years, Ghana’s cocoa output has fallen from over one million metric tonnes in 2021 to slightly above 500,000 tonnes in 2024.
The tours prioritised direct interaction with cocoa farmers, including visits to farms and participation in community meetings.
The team visited various cocoa-growing regions, including the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, Eastern, Central, Western, and Western North regions.
The tours offer an opportunity to discuss and address issues like input supply, pricing, and overall welfare of cocoa farmers.
Dr Abbey appealed to the farmers not to sell their cocoa beans to neighbouring Togo because of high prices.
He said the government had provided fertilisers, extension officers and other agricultural inputs to help cocoa farmers increase production in the country.
The Chief Executive stressed that it was unfortunate for some farmers to sell their cocoa beans to Togo, adding that such acts do not augur well for the country’s development.
“How do we develop this mentality? We need to change our attitudes. It is a bad attitude to smuggle cocoa to other neighbouring countries,” he said.
He said the government could not spend resources on cocoa farmers only for the produce to be smuggled and sold in other African countries.
“The government will not spend more money on cocoa farmers and in the end use it to develop other countries; it will not be tolerated,” he said.
Dr Abbey charged the cocoa farmers to desist from such actions since the government used the cocoa revenue to provide social amenities like schools, hospitals and other infrastructure projects for the citizenry.
He urged the farmers to work hard to increase cocoa production in the country and assured them of government support to meet such objectives.
Mr Linus Attey, Regent for Bowiri Kyiriah in the Oti Region, expressed concern about the low interest of the youth to venture into cocoa farming.
He urged management of COCOBOD to create awareness about the importance of cocoa farming to motivate and attract the youth into the industry.
Mr Freeman Dankwa, Assemblyman for Bowiri Kyiriah, pledged to mobilise a taskforce to prevent the smuggling of cocoa beans in other neighbouring countries.
He appealed to the authority to address network communication challenges in the vicinity to ensure smooth communication.
GNA
