<<Print>>

Some cocoa famers and Cocoa Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) say poor policies implemented by Cocobodare stifling the cocoa sector. 

The farmers complained of inadequate fertilizers and other inputs such as spraying of their cocoa farms which they said were making life difficult for them.

Opayin Kojo Egyir of the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal area told this paper that “in the 2006/2007 crop season, we the famers helped the country to achieve its cocoa production target because the government at that time provided inputs for farmers that supported their production.”

The LBCs said lack of support from Cocobod had triggered the dismal performance of the sector and therefore pragmatic efforts were needed to turn things around, failing which another poor performance will be witnessed in the 2015/2016 crop season.

The companies are also unhappy with the Ghana Cocobodover its failure to implement a new electronic payment system.

According to them, the ezwich payment solution that Cocobod is promoting is rather fraught with challenges, making it difficult for the farmers and the LBCs to sign on.  

They believe that the implementation of the electronic payment system will rather boost the cocoa sector in many ways.  
These include reduction in robbery cases among farmers who carry large sums of monies, improve administrative and accounting records as well as enhance the profitability of the farmers.

The LBCs who spoke to Business Finder on condition of anonymity said the current management of Cocobod was sabotaging the implementation of the electronic payment system and have also failed to execute policies that will help the sector to thrive. 

“Even teachers and some government workers have kicked against the ezwich payment solution simply because it comes with lots of challenges”, a director of one of the LBCs said. 

Ghana recorded less than 700,000 metric tonnes of cocoa production for the 2014/2015 crop season despite revising its production target twice to 800,000 metric tonnes.

Additionally, the famers are anxiously waiting to enroll onto the e-payment solutions platform that will help eradicate losses associated with the physical cash payment system. 

The LBCs were hoping that all cocoa farmers will be registered when the electronic payment solution is implemented.

Meanwhile, Cocobod is forecasting between 850,000 - 900,000 metric tonnes of cocoa during the 2015/2016 season. 

Ghana registered more than 9500,000 metric tons of cocoa in the 2010/2011 main crop season; the highest since the country registered its name on the international market as a producer of cocoa.