COCOBOD to roll out cocoa management system
The move will put COCOBOD in a better position to plan and execute most of its interventions and programmes in a highly co-ordinated manner
Ghana News Agency (Accra) – The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will soon roll out the cocoa management system, a comprehensive and integrated farmer database, to inform its operations.
The chief executive officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said the database will be a link between the farmer, COCOBOD, service providers, input dealers/suppliers and banks.
Boahen Aidoo said this when national executives of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Shea nut Farmers Association (COCOSHE) paid a courtesy call on the COCOBOD management to congratulate the CEO on his recognition by the people of Côte d’Ivoire.
The CEO was presented with the national award of Commander of the National Order of Côte d’Ivoire by President Alassane Ouattara.
Welfare and well-being
Boahin Aidoo was honoured for his leadership in securing the historic cocoa floor price and living income differential (LID) levy for cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
“That is the level we want to reach in the industry. It should not be the responsibility of the farmer to be doing everything. Service providers will have to come in and support,” Boahen Aidoo said.
He said the board would secure the welfare and well-being of Ghana’s cocoa growers, and added: “We want cocoa farming to be more lucrative, attractive to the youth and more profitable.”
Interventions
He said cocoa farming should be a venture worthy of pursuit by all professionals.
He commended the board, management and staff of COCOBOD for their support in implementing the interventions introduced by the government to support farmers to increase cocoa yields.
Boahen Aidoo dedicated the awards to cocoa farmers both in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire for their continuous support.
He said COCOBOD envisaged a better cocoa industry in Ghana, taking the industry to a different level. The board, he added, has implemented interventions and policies with drive from President Akufo-Addo and his complete support.
All the interventions were made to sustain the welfare of cocoa farmers, he said. “The president is passionate about the cocoa industry and he deserves a special commendation,” he added.
Pension scheme
The COCOBOD chief executive said the registration of the cocoa farmers’ pension scheme has been completed and it will soon be launched by the president.
“I am sure the launch will be done soon, hopefully before the end of the year 2020,” he said.
Alhassan Bukari, the national president of COCOSHE, congratulated the CEO on his award of the prestigious title Commander of the National Order of Merit.
“We, cocoa farmers, celebrate this extraordinary accomplishment you have earned and also laud you for the currently visible evidence of progress in your resolve to transform the cocoa industry into a lucrative business venture,” he said.
He said the interventions demonstrate the strong commitment by COCOBOD and the government towards improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers.
He said the association is aware of the government’s various ongoing productivity enhancement programmes that COCOBOD is implementing to support farmers to increase yields.
Nursery sites
Mass pruning and hand pollination programmes, for instance, have increased yields and incomes of farmers, who today can afford dignified and decent lives in their communities.
Bukari said farmers have expressed joy at the quantity of free seedlings they are receiving each year to replant on their farms and establish new ones.
He called for COCOBOD to establish more nursery sites close to the farming areas to reduce the burden associated with transporting seedlings over long distances.
He assured the government and COCOBOD that COCOSHE will continue to be a strong partner which will support all initiatives and policies of the board.
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