The Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) has announced the rolling out of a new cocoa advocacy initiative to help create a sustainable cocoa value chain in Ghana.
GARDJA said the advocacy project, which will draw attention to pertinent issues militating against the development of the cocoa sector, would be done in collaboration with various cocoa farmer based organisations and other stakeholders.
In a statement jointly signed its President, Richmond Frimpong and Deputy General Secretary, Joseph Opoku Gakpo mentioned poor farm-gate pricing, access to inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, impact of climate change on cocoa production, and child labour on farms as some of the challenges the advocacy project will tackle.
“At GARDJA, we are concerned that the full potential of the cocoa crop is not being harnessed. There is, therefore, the need for government, non-governmental organisations, as well as other actors in the sector to up their game, introduce better policies in the industry, implement and inject more resources to help keep the sector afloat.”
The statement said the Cocoa Advocacy Initiative would involve a series of media campaigns as well as capacity building initiatives for the media practitioners and for cocoa producers “between now and the end of the year.”
It added that the project would also ensure that the public has access to more and better investigative reports on cocoa sustainability issues, intimating that “it will also ensure media houses help create the required platform for an informed public debate on cocoa sustainability issues in Ghana.”
The journalists association indicated that cocoa plays an important role in Ghana’s development, and that the proceeds from the crop have been used to shore up the Ghanaian economy, pay for road infrastructure, pay for education, pay for the construction of health facilities among others.
“More needs to be done for the benefit of farmers who grow this golden crop. For example, section 36 of the Ghana COCOBOD Law 1984 states that the Board shall within one year after the coming into force of this law establishes a contributory insurance scheme for cocoa, coffee and shea nuts farmers within the framework of the Social Security Scheme.”
According to the association, it is sad to note that 36 years on this directive has net been implemented, and called on the COCOBOD to operationalize the law.
By Ernest Kofi Adu