Need for stakeholders to intensify cocoa farmer education – COCOBOD
Mr Emmanuel Opoku, Deputy Director Research, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has called for intensified farmer education by government and other stakeholders in the cocoa industry on the new methods of farming to boost production.
He said the low level of literacy among farmers made it difficult for them to adapt to modern technology to increase yields.
Mr Opoku made the call at the First National Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Farmer Media Dialogue Platform on the theme, “Strengthening Voices for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy in Ghana”, in Accra on Wednesday.
The forum organised by Africa Cocoa Coalition (ACC) was aimed at promoting Africa’s leadership in quality cocoa production to sustain the Ghanaian cocoa economy as well as create a platform for the farmers to engage stakeholders in helping address their grievances.
It is also to facilitate the introduction of labour saving technologies to modernise cocoa production activities and establish a national Farmer–NGO Dialogue platform for the discussion and consensus building on pertinent issues in the cocoa sector.
The Deputy Director stressed that climate change, threats of diseases and pests, sales and application of unapproved chemicals on cocoa were some of the factors that retarded progress in the cocoa sector in the country.
He urged farmers to develop simple and effective labour saving technologies to curb physical labour and focus on intensive rather than extensive cocoa cultivation practices with the application of fertilizer in a responsible manner, adding, this would enable them achieve their target.
Nana Johnson Mensah, Western South Regional Chief Farmer, said a farmer must be knowledgeable about the principles and practices of agriculture to obtain the required tonnage.
He said effects of climate change were being felt in most of the cocoa growing areas due to the change in rainfall pattern, which was also affecting the application of fertilizers and incidence of the cocoa black pod disease.
Mr David Kpelle, Programme Director, ACC, said the Coalition worked with stakeholders to ensure the adoption of sustainable best practices in the cocoa sector and also promote equitable returns to all players in the cocoa value chain to contribute to Ghana’s socio-economic development.
He explained that a sustainable cocoa economy was one which each person that invested his time and money into the supply chain would be able to earn a decent income for themselves and their family.
Mr Kpelle said the leadership of cocoa farmers was not effective because they lacked the channels to voice out their grievances for national attention and expressed the hope that the forum would help them to voice out the challenges they faced.
Source: GNA