Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minister of Finance, has unveiled a bold government proposal to buy 200 hectares of land for cocoa trees in an attempt to boost Ghana’s faltering cocoa industry and bring production back to 1 million metric tonnes.
Speaking during the Ministry of Finance’s inauguration of the Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) new eleven-member Board of Directors, Dr. Forson emphasized the urgent need for daring measures to address the precipitous drop in cocoa production, which has recently dropped from a peak of one million metric tonnes to roughly 500,000 metric tonnes.
Dr. Forson, who was appointed to the COCOBOD Board by a new law requiring the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to be on the board, reiterated the government’s resolve to reestablish cocoa as the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy.
“Cocoa has always been the mainstay of our economy, and that must not change,” he said. “Unfortunately, massive mismanagement in recent years has led to a worrying downturn in both production and financial stability. It is time to act decisively.”
He said that in order to greatly increase output levels, the government would create plantation farms by purchasing roughly 200 hectares of cocoa land through COCOBOD. He clarified that this would guarantee sustainable growth in the industry and enhance current smallholder farmer operations.
Additionally, Dr. Forson emphasized the urgency with which infected farms must be addressed, especially in the Western Region, where they continue to impair productivity and negatively impact cocoa farmers’ lives. As COCOBOD embarks on this turnaround strategy, he promised the Finance Ministry’s steadfast assistance.
Dr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the chairman of the recently established board, pledged to restructure, retool, and reestablish COCOBOD as a model organization.
Source: newsthemegh.com