The women cocoa farmers
CHIEF EXECUTIVE Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahene Aidoo, has appealed to all cocoa farmers whose diseased cocoa trees were cut down for replacement to get in touch with district offices to have their farms handed back to them since government has completed the replanting exercise.
“The farms are ready for the owners so spread the message so they go for their farms fully replanted under the cocoa rehabilitation programme,” he stated.
Mr. Boahene Aidoo made the announcement in Sunyani when he participated in the first ever annual festival of Brong Ahafo Women Cooperative in Cocoa Farming last Friday.
Addressing the women and other dignitaries, the CEO said 21m cocoa trees have been replanted/placed under the cocoa rehabilitation programme of Cocoa Management System introduced by government to increase yield.
He urged the over 7,000 women in cocoa to embrace all cocoa management system practices such as pruning, mass spraying, hand pollination, cutting down of diseased cocoa trees among others to increase yield per acre.
“We have replanted 21 million trees since we started in 2019 and are looking for their owners to have the farms back. It is difficult getting owners because most of the farmers in the Sefwi area in particular migrated from Bono Ahafo, so might have returned to their home regions, so please spread the message to reach them,” he said.
“It is not politics. We are not doing politics with it. This is because some of you have refused to hand over diseased farms for rehabilitation because of politics. This is a major remedy government has brought into the industry so all of you must embrace it,” he said.
He described government’s 2023 producer price to farmers as fair. “Government has given boom price and I urge you all to appreciate it.
“Don’t allow anybody to throw dust into your eyes. I hear some say it should have been between GH¢2,500 and GH¢2,800 per bag. This is false because producer price to farmers is not based on the year’s world market price but the previous year’s price. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived. From 2017 till date, our price is better than that of Cote d’Ivoire,” he added.
President of the association, Martha Adjei, in her welcome address, put the membership at 7,629 from nine cocoa districts across the three regions of Bono, Bono East and Ahafo region.
FROM Daniel Y Dayee Sunyani