Massandje Toure-Litse
Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s two leading cocoa producers, are putting in place key measures to enable them control cocoa prices on the global market for the benefit of cocoa farmers in both countries.
The two leading producers feel shortchanged with respect to cocoa prices on the world market, which is mostly determined by the West and Asia.
Known as ‘Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire Technical Cooperation On Cocoa,’ the joint cooperation is to among other things, protect their farmers and economies from the harsh effects of consistent price drops of cocoa on the world market, with the view to ensuring the sustainability of cocoa economy.
The technical cooperation is an initiative of the Presidents of Cote d’ Ivoire and Ghana following President Akufo-Addo’s state visit to Ivory Coast in April this year.
Speaking at the second meeting of the technical cooperation yesterday in Accra, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Afriyie Akoto, stressed the need for the two countries to foster collaboration to ensure that their farmers get better pay for their products.
Top Ten Producers
Nations across four continents make the top 10, and Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana occupy the first and second positions respectively, followed by Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazill, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic.
Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire, according to statistics from COCOBOD, produce about 2.35 million tonnes of cocoa, which is about 60 percent of world production.
The Minister said that “growth in the Asian market for cocoa is consistently on the rise. Yet these positive developments in demand have not been marched by impressive prices.”
According to him, “The absence of appreciable rise in demand to increase prices is threatening the sustainability of cocoa production.
“Therefore, there is the need for urgent, effective and sustainable measures to first protect our farmers and economies from the harsh effects of this price drops, and then chart a future of greater self-reliance,” he charged.
Dr. Afriyie-Akoto said emphatically that “the solutions to this and other challenges of the cocoa sector require cooperative efforts among producers, especially the two largest, thus the need for Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire Technical Cooperation for cocoa sustainability.”
“Enhancing the welfare of cocoa farmers will require an improvement in farm productivity, sustainable domestic and international prices and a stronger production organization,” he said.
He added that “this will ensure that the interest of farmers and producer countries is catered for while fostering a competitive domestic downstream sector.”
Three separate committees namely Production, Economics and Marketing and Special Committees have been formed by the two nations under the technical cooperation, with the mandate of fashioning out new policies to help both nations improve their production levels and gains from their sale of cocoa.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said the two leading producers- Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire- must collaborate towards harmonized production and marketing arrangements cannot be overemphasized.
Director-General of Cote d’ Ivoire Council for Coffee and Cocoa, Massandje Toure-Litse, urged the committees to find answers to problems affecting the countries’ cocoa sectors.
Shares
Meanwhile, Board Chairman of Cocobod, Hackman Owusu Agyemang, proposed that the two leading countries must own shares in companies like Nestle and Cadbury to benefit their farmers for contributing raw materials needed for the running of such companies.
By Melvin Tarlue & Rosemary Twum