$50m Voted To Facelift Roads In Cocoa Areas

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, 04 October 2007
THE Cocoa Industry has received a boost of 50 million dollars to upgrade roads in major cocoa growing areas in the country.

Approximately 531 kilometres of roads are to be rehabilitated under the programme aimed at facilitating the evacuation of cocoa beans from the hinterlands to the ports.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, made the announcement at the opening of this year’s roundtable conference on cocoa currently underway in Accra.

It is under the theme: "Sustainable world cocoa economy".

The announcement by the Minister comes in the wake of the government’s decision to increase the price of a ton of cocoa from the current price of GH¢915 to GH¢950 with immediate effect.

On October 1, at the World’s Cocoa Day Celebration at Sefwi-Bibiani in the Western Region. President J.A. Kufuor after announcing the increment, instructed the Ghana Cocoa Board to pay bonuses of cocoa farmers in two instalments in July and the latter part of the year, instead of the current system which is paid in September.

The three day annual International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) conference is being attended by about 250 delegates in the cocoa sector across the world.

It is sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Netherlands in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said, as part of efforts by the government to ensure a sustainable cocoa sector, it has increased renumeration of farmers and had also adopted a diseases and pests control programme.

He said the government had adopted responsible production methods through good agronomic practices and also promoted value addition through research and development in the cocoa processing business.

"We are starting a programme to provide decent accommodation for cocoa farmers in their areas of operation because the concept of sustainability encompasses social, economic and environmental dimensions in both production and consumption".

Mr Baah-Wiredu said, "cocoa, over the years, continues to generate more and more dividends economically and nutritionally for all in the cocoa chain. We must all collaborate to ensure a sustainable industry".

Mr Marcel Vernooij, a representative from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, said sustainable development of the cocoa sector is a shared responsibility among stakeholders.

He said, the cocoa sector needs far reaching working policies that will take into consideration the needs of farmers, labourers and the environment at large.

Mr Hagan Streichert of Germany, who is the ICCO spokesperson for consumers said, policy makers in the sector should at all times involve farmers in their deliberations.

"The farmer should be the starting point at any considerable action. His welfare should be paramount to all stakeholders."

Mr Isaac Osei, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board, said "in Ghana, we take the question of sustainability quite serious and that is why in our effort to increase production, we are not thinking of area expansion but our strategy is on yield enhancing schemes to increase farmer incomes, efficiency in logistics and enhancement of our quality assurance systems."

Participants are expected to break into groups and finally come out with a policy draft document that will push forward the sustainability of the sector.