COCOBOD to purchase fertilisers from local companies, beginning next year

The government has directed the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to begin the purchase of fertilisers from local companies from next year because the companies now have sufficient capacity to blend fertilisers.

The Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who gave the directive, said following the government’s One-district, One-factory (1D1F) initiative, local fertiliser companies now had enough capacity to meet the country’s fertiliser demand.

“Because there now exists sufficient local capacity for the manufacture of fertilisers, the government has instructed COCOBOD to purchase all fertilisers from local companies and not to import because now, thanks to the 1D1F, we have established the local capacity to satisfy our fertiliser demand and this will save the country some foreign exchange,” he added.

The Vice-President was speaking at the 20th anniversary of OLAM Ghana Cocoa in Accra last Wednesday.

Large chunks of the fertiliser used by cocoa farmers in the country are imported.

According to Dr Bawumia, COCOBOD had procured enough quantities of fertilisers for distribution to cocoa farmers, while it had intensified its education of farmers on the proper application of fertilisers.

Pension scheme

The Vice-President said the government was also working with the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to introduce a pension scheme for cocoa farmers and that some progress had been made in that regard.

“We are expecting another round of presentations by the NPRA to the Economic Management Team before it is presented to the Cabinet. It is important that such a scheme be put in place for cocoa farmers, so that when they retire, it will serve as a source of income for them,” he said.

Dr Bawumia assured OLAM, and for that matter other licensed buying companies (LBCs), of the government’s unrelenting effort at supporting COCOBOD to ensure the sustainability of the cocoa industry.

He acknowledged the challenges confronting the sector, saying volatile and unstable cocoa prices and climate change resulting from weather and climatic conditions could reduce cocoa yields.

Other bottlenecks included pests and diseases, the lack of interest by the youth to embrace cocoa farming, bad road networks in cocoa growing areas, declining soil fertility, as well as the high cost of agro chemicals and farm inputs, he said.

“It is because of all these challenges that the government continues to support COCOBOD to implement productivity enhancement programmes for farmers and also ensure that Ghana’s premium cocoa quality is not compromised,” Dr Bawumia said.

Advice

In a speech read on his behalf, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, advised cocoa farmers to strive to plant at least 18 trees per hectare, use children below 18 years for light work and also prune, pollinate and properly apply fertilisers to boost production.

He said when they were able to work within such a framework, international cocoa purchasers would be more than ready to pay the proposed living income differential which was arranged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Mr Alhassane Ouattara.

Progress

The Business Head of OLAM Cocoa Ghana, Mr Eric Asare Botwe, was happy with the progress made by the company in the last two decades and said it presently had more than 650 indigenous workers.

He added that it would continue to leverage its relationship with custodians of the land it operated on to chalk up more successes.

Appreciation

A representative of cocoa farmers, Alhaji Alhassan Abubakar, expressed appreciation to traditional rulers for releasing land for cocoa cultivation and to OLAM for its continued support to farmers.

The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II, who chaired the event, called for a change in the country’s agricultural structure to give more recognition to farmers.

He also suggested that the next anniversary celebration by OLAM must be held in a cocoa growing community.