Dr. Emmanuel Opoku
Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations at Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Emmanuel Opoku has assured the general public that Ghana would continue to sell cocoa to the European Union (EU) considering the significant progress made by COCOBOD in an effort to achieve the goals of the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS).
Dr. Opoku who said these at a COCOBOD/EU/GIZ-SCISP Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS) Stakeholder Workshop held at Elmina in the Central Region therefore urged all stakeholders to play their respective roles to ensure Ghana becomes the leading producer of traceable cocoa.
He said the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GTCS), forms part of the modalities to test Ghana’s readiness to meet the EU regulation passed into law on May 29, 2023, as COCOBOD is collaborate with GIZ to pilot the GCTS in the Assin-Fosu Cocoa District to demonstrate the functionality of the system.
He also mentioned that the workshop therefore offered the platform to inform relevant stakeholders including, farmers, purchasing clerks and Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) in Assin-Fosu of their roles and contributions to a full roll-out of the GCTS.
Dr. Opoku disclosed that COCOBOD had so far measured 1,239,169 farms with a total of 1380,566 hectares belonging to 761,753 farmers.
Madam Claudia Maier, Country Coordinator for the GIZ Sustainable Cocoa Initiative Support Programme (SCISP) also expressed her outfit’s willingness to provide expertise and financial support to ensure the success of the implementation of the traceability system.
Central Regional Chief Farmer, Nana Kwasi Ofori, said data is paramount for effective planning and that the introduction of the CMS would help COCOBOD to work with accurate data and improve efficiency in its operations.
Central Regional Administrator of COCOBOD, Mrs. Mary Yaa Allotey, said the traceability system would promote quality control, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
She was therefore hopeful that the workshop would make participants better equipped and help them to contribute meaningfully to all the interventions being implemented by COCOBOD for a more improved cocoa sector.