For additional expert perspectives, we approached Michael Ekow Amoah, Deputy Director of the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Department at COCOBOD, as well as Harris Andoh, a research scientist at the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute in Accra, one of 13 centers that make up Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
OPEC Fund Quarterly: Why is cocoa important for Ghana’s economy? Michael Ekow Amoah: Cocoa contributes an average of 3.5 percent of GDP and employs about 17 percent of the working population. Cocoa also plays an important role in socio-economic development, opening up the rural economy for integration into the national economy and enhancing trade. Another aspect where cocoa plays an important role is foreign exchange earnings and stabilization of the local currency. It accounts for an average of 30 percent of our total export earnings and is the only commodity for which we have 100 percent retention of foreign exchange. The other element is the contribution
of cocoa to the educational sector. Before the advent of free secondary school education, the government gave scholarships to the children of cocoa farmers, and this helped many people who would later become doctors and engineers. So it’s not surprising that we say “Ghana is cocoa, cocoa is Ghana”.
OFQ: What is COCOBOD and what is it trying to achieve? MEA: Back in the 1930s, when Ghana started selling and exporting cocoa in commercial quantities, we had many European merchants who were buying directly from our cocoa farmers for export. By 1937, the farmers reported that the price being paid to them was
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not reasonable, and didn't even meet their costs, so they decided not to sell their cocoa. A committee was set up and recommended the establishment of a marketing board in 1940. That was reconstituted in 1984 as the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) with the mission to promote, facilitate and encourage the production, marketing and processing of cocoa, coffee and shea nut. In other words, we support farmers to produce, and we regulate the cocoa sector to ensure that all stakeholders are able to achieve their objectives.
OFQ: What is the biggest problem currently facing cocoa farmers in Ghana? MEA: The challenge that we cannot run away from is climate change. For Ghana, this means that farmers have great difficulty in planning their activities: some plant too early before the rains, some plant too late after the rains. It is very difficult to ensure survival of the cocoa seedlings and difficult to get the best out of the land that they are cultivating. Pod wilting and premature ripening have become rampant.
OFQ: What measures are needed to make farming sustainable? How is COCOBOD helping? MEA: We are tackling this from all three pillars of sustainability. In terms of the economy we are looking at improving the productivity of the cocoa farmer. We are implementing productivity enhancement programs with the aim of increasing productivity from about 600 kg per hectare to 1000 kg per hectare by 2026/27. When it comes to the environment,
we have worked extensively with stakeholders to ensure that cocoa farming does not pose a risk to the environment. We are working with civil society organizations and the Forestry Commission to ensure that farmers adopt sustainable farming practices and are responsible towards the environment. The other aspect is social. Working with our partners, we are educating our cocoa farmers not to use child labor and not to violate human rights. We carry out awareness raising programs aimed at
PHOTO: volff/iStock
cocoa farmers, so that they know the full implications of child labor.
OFQ: Are young people interested in cocoa farming? Is COCOBOD working with young people and women specifically? MEA: Today in Ghana the average age of a cocoa farmer is 55, which is not good for the future. COCOBOD has implemented a number of programs and policies to attract the youth. First of all, we have to make cocoa farming lucrative in order to attract young men and women. We have recently launched a “Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme” as a means of attracting the youth. Secondly, we are encouraging young people to form a Young Farmers Association and give them help to realize their vision. Thirdly, we have set up a gender desk and research department, along with implementing measures to ensure gender equality and youth inclusion.
OFQ: Can you give an overview of the financing facilities you have secured? How does this support the cocoa industry? MEA: Prior to this facility, farmers were not being paid promptly. Interest rates in Ghana were so high that there was no incentive for the license-buying companies to pay the farmers on time. So their welfare was affected, and they could not invest in sustainable activities. This facility ensures that farmers are paid on time and decently. That and stabilizing the price of our local currency in Ghana is the most important role that this facility is playing.
MICHAEL EKOW AMOAH
PHOTO: Courtesy of Michael Ekow Amoah
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