The PEP, rolled out by COCOBOD, was to increase cocoa production levels in the country to at least one million tonnes per year and entailed measures to sustainably increase plant fertility, develop irrigation systems and rehabilitate aged and disease-infected farms.

The farmers further called for a timely release and distribution of subsidized inputs to farmers to help them in their farming activities.

AGM

The Chairman of the Cocoa Abrabopa Association (CAA), Ismail Poamsi, appealed on behalf of the farmers at the 12th Annual General Meeting of the association held in Kumasi.

He said the PEP had the potential to improve the country’s productivity in the cocoa sector and appealed to the government and COCOBOD to double their effort and also adopt a more concerted effort in combating the activities of illegal miners in cocoa-growing areas.

Concerns

The association expressed concern over the frequent delay in the release of the Seed Fund to Licensed Buying Companies as it was collapsing the operations of these indigenous LBCs and reducing their ability to supply certified cocoa beans to their customers.

He said although the 2023/2024 cocoa season started about three months ago, the local LBCs were yet to receive Seed Funds from COCOBOD to enable them to buy the Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ beans.

 “Cocoa Abrabopa is committed to improving the lives of cocoa farmers through appropriate and sustainable socioeconomic interventions.

Performance

In its quest to improve premium payments to its beneficiary members, he said the CAA introduced a digital payment system (MoMo) in both the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 seasons.

He said the innovation offered “us the opportunity to make bulk payments to members within the shortest possible time in a more transparent manner.

Mr Pomasi said the association also introduced the Living Income Sustainability Initiative for Economic development of members, their households and communities, which, according to him, remained the surest blueprint to cocoa sustainability.

“It is for this reason that the CAA partnered Alfred Ritter GmbH, a chocolate manufacturer of the Ritter Sport brand of chocolate products to undertake varied degrees of interventions ranging from easy transport system for moving cocoa beans from farm to the society, farming equipment and inputs, access to potable drinking water and on-farm additional livelihoods to improve the living conditions of members.

Since the inception of the initiative in 2022, he said a total of 22 tricycles, 30 units of SOLO mist blowers, four mechanised boreholes with washroom facilities, an agrochemical inputs shop and two Snail Farming start-up packages have been inaugurated and handed over to beneficiary groups at Bogoso, Tarkwa Aboso, Bonsa and Amantin operational areas all in Western South Cocoa Region of Ghana.

Sustainability

The Sustainability Manager, Wilfred Apiung, said despite some challenges faced by the association, it was committed to improving the livelihoods and incomes of cocoa farmers through gender equity and sustainable cocoa production across the six cocoa growing regions.

For his part, the Operations Manager for the CAA, Roland Obosu asked the farmers to let the increase in premium payment motivate them to produce quality cocoa that would meet standards, help increase local sourcing and contribute to the local economy.

The acting Executive Secretary of the CAA, Patrick John Van Brakel said the initiatives were to ensure that all farmers conformed to the newly introduced Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System and the new Rainforest Alliance Standard to position the association ahead of any International standards.

Appreciation

The leadership expressed their appreciation to the CAA for introducing them to alternative livelihoods and being an advocate for their human rights and helping them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.