COCOBOD secures US$280 million from AfDB to fight cocoa swollen shoot disease
Corporate affairs director Fiifi Boafo tells Asaase Radio that Ghana needs aggressive action to counter a problem afflicting two-thirds of growers
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has secured US$280 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to help tackle swollen shoot disease across the country.
COCOBOD’s director of corporate affairs, Fiifi Boafo, told Asaase Radio that research by the Board shows that nearly 40% of the trees in Ghana’s cocoa sector have been affected by swollen shoot and are either diseased or moribund.
To reverse the trend and boost cocoa production, COCOBOD has launched an aggressive exercise to rehabilitate moribund farms across Ghana.
“We are doing this because of the significant contribution of cocoa to the country’s economy over the years,” Boafo said.
Trying to improve productivity from a base with such problems is not sustainable, he said. “So, instead of us spending money buying fertilisers and chemicals to support them, it is important for us to treat these farms and have a better yield,” he said.
Fallback crop
COCOBOD is using part of its annual revenue to finance the project to address the problem with swollen shoot, Boafo told Asaase Radio.
However, some cocoa farmers are very reluctant to cut down their infected trees because they fear doing anything that might lead to even a marginal loss of livelihood.
“But currently we are providing them with plantain suckers for cultivation, to give them some livelihood and also give the cocoa some shade,” he said.
“We are also maintaining the farms for them for a period of two years before handing over, to give them some relief.”
Loan approval
Parliament has approved a US$1.3 billion facility from a consortium of banks for COCOBOD to purchase 2020/21 crop season cocoa.
Part of the loan will be used in certain operational areas such as fertiliser distribution and application, as well as cocoa disease and pest control.
The House has also approved a request for a waiver of stamp duty, amounting to US$6.5 million on the receivables-backed trade finance facility, for which the government will serve as guarantor.
Fred Dzakpata
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