SNV Ghana leads national dialogue on Cocoa Agroforestry Systems

The demand for cocoa remains high, with increasing consumption of cocoa products by emerging economies which is expected to increase in the coming decades.

However, the cost of producing the beans continues to increase, yields are declining and the negative impacts of climate change continue to threaten the already poor smallholder cocoa farmers.

The cocoa sector has also seen very limited innovations and new investments while cocoa trees and farmers continue to age.

“One of the impacts of this dwindling productivity is the removal of shade trees from farms and the expansion of cocoa cultivation into areas of rainforest,” said Harm Duiker, Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. “As a result, globally, cocoa is counted among the major driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss”.

As a forest shade grown tree, cocoa is a crop that thrives in areas of high biodiversity and tropical forests landscapes.

Farmers and scientists alike recognize that shade trees are vital to reducing both ecological and economic risks, including maintenance of soil fertility and moisture, weed suppression and pest and disease control.

They also acknowledge shade trees play an important role in climate adaption in cocoa system.

However, there is increasing demand for scientific evidence of ecological and economic benefits of trees in cocoa systems.

Recent studies have contested the benefits claimed to be associated with cocoa agroforestry, including mitigating adverse climate effects, pathogen or disease regulation, and more importantly improvements in soil fertility.

The Cocoa Dialogue

The national dialogue on cocoa agroforestry systems therefore had the objective of consolidating evidence-based ecological and economic benefits of cocoa agroforestry systems, identifying gaps in knowledge and to ensure consistency in promoting cocoa agroforestry science, policy and practice in Ghana.

It was organised by SNV Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board, the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

The event attracted experts who observed that gaps in science and practice, and inconsistencies in the promotion of cocoa agroforestry as well as land and tree tenure bottlenecks constitute major challenges to the rapid adoption of cocoa agroforestry systems among smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana.

They called for increased research to fill the gaps in evidence-base science and the practice of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana.

Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Ahia Clottey, the Deputy Director Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), reiterated COCOBOD’s commitment to promoting cocoa agroforestry under its recently launched cocoa rehabilitation project.

He said the current programme targets only 156,400ha out of the 700,000 total rehabilitation need of the entire cocoa landscape of Ghana.

He therefore called for stakeholders’ investment into cocoa rehabilitation in order to increase productivity of current land under cultivation in Ghana.

Expert presentations and discussions were made on the current state of knowledge on soil improvement, soil nutrient and water competition, disease and pest control, trees species recommendation in shaded cocoa systems.

According to Prof. Boateng Kyeremeh from the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST, the realities of climate change vis-a-vis sustainability show the importance of holding the national dialogue to help farmers built resilience.

He believes Ghana’s cocoa industry should be able to meet the challenges imposed by climate change with scientific support and political will.

Building Resilient Smallholder Systems

The national dialogue forms part of activities under the Shaded Cocoa Agroforestry System (SCAFS) project, being implemented by SNV with funding support from the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

SNV supports cocoa agroforestry as a model towards more diversified and resilient smallholder systems that can help to increase and secure production in the long term with ecological benefits. 

“This is important to smallholder cocoa farmers that are affected sometimes by highly volatile global prices and by climate change,” said Harm Duiker.

He indicated that cocoa agroforestry practices come at a cost to smallholder farmers and a deeper understanding of the processes in cocoa agroforestry systems will help to promote its benefits to smallholder farmers.

The national dialogue on cocoa agroforestry systems was attended by academia and research institutions, private license cocoa buying companies, farmer’ representatives, non-governmental organizations and representatives from the public.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

Will Ghana’s Cocoa Industry Survive the Climate Onslaught?

Cocoa, the second largest foreign exchange earner for Ghana, is indeed the cash-cow of the Ghanaian economy.

But the cocoa industry, a major driver to deforestation, is reeling under the threat of climate change.

Increasing production demands expansion of area under cultivation, with the resultant effect of converting forests to farming systems which leads to decline in carbon stocks.

To sustain production, there is the call for the country to explore climate-smart cocoa production practices.

Kofi Adu Domfeh takes a look at what Ghana is doing to ensure the cocoa economy and local livelihoods are sustained.

The Paradox of Cocoa Production

A drive through Ghana’s cocoa belts, especially during the dry season, reveals a sorry sight of stretches of cocoa withering from the top as though fire had gone through the top part of farms.

Under good weather and improved farming practices, Ghana unprecedentedly produced one million metric tons of cocoa in the 2010/2011 crop year.

But production has since declined, currently hovering around 850,000 tons.

Temperature plays a critical role in Ghana’s cocoa production – whiles climate change affects agriculture, agriculture also affects climate change.

Agroforestry research scientist, Dr. Luke Anglaaere, describes cocoa production as a paradox to Ghana’s forest depletion and restoration.

“Cocoa is the crop that has led to the destruction of Ghana’s forest and it is the only crop within Ghana’s agricultural system that has the potential to help restore the forest, to bring back the forest,” he said.

The Climate Threat to the Prized Bean

Enjoyed by sweet-toothed consumers the world-over, more than half of the world’s chocolate comes from the cocoa plantations of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers supply lucrative fair-trade markets in developed countries.

But the climate threat could transform the cherished chocolate bar into a luxury few can afford.

Ghana, at the turn of the century, had 8.2million hectors of forest reserves.

The policy in forest reservation at the time was to reserve a small portion to create a good micro-climate to support cocoa production and other agricultural activities.

“The reduction in forest, alarming though it may seem, was more or less intentional,” noted Kwabena Nketia of Tropenbos International Ghana. “But with time government realized that was not the best of policies; that is allowing the areas outside the reserves to be converted fully to agriculture”.

Most ecological zones in Ghana are experiencing gradual increase in temperature, longer dry season and reduction of annual rainfall.

Mr. Nketia has observed the dwindling fortunes of cocoa production in some northern parts of the country “because the microclimate there does not support cocoa growing; so if we are not careful with the way we manage our forest resources, as we lose our forest, the environment gets drier and drier and cocoa will no longer be able to survive”.

Seven years ago, climate scientists at the Colombia-based International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, predicted that the expected increasing temperatures will lead to massive declines in cocoa production in Ghana and other cocoa-growing areas in West Africa by 2030.

Their report also revealed that an expected annual temperature rise of more than two degrees Celsius by 2050 will leave the cocoa-producing areas too hot for chocolate.

Warmer conditions mean the heat-sensitive cocoa trees will struggle to get enough water during the growing season, curtailing the development of cocoa pods, containing the prized cocoa bean.

Fatal Cocoa Extension Error

With the exception of the Greater Accra region, cocoa used to be cultivated in all areas of Southern Ghana.

Farmers will clear the forests in these areas to plant their cocoa due to the soil fertility of forest lands.

Initially, some remnant trees were left to provide shade.

With the introduction of hybrid cocoa, however, farmers were advised to remove trees to engender higher yields from the hybrid.

Cocoa extension officers erred in discouraging the cultivation of hybrid cocoa under shade, said Dr. Anglaaere of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

As an open-sun cocoa, the hybrid cocoa yields higher than when under shade. However, the variety draws heavily on soil nutrients through the export of the beans from the system.

“Within a short time, the nutrient pool within the soil gets depleted very fast and yields begin to decline,” observed Dr. Anglaaere.

Nutrient loss and sun scorch, he said, are major challenges to sustainability. With climate change, temperatures are high and the cocoa trees struggle in the heat and limited nutrients in the soil.

The open-sun system practice, therefore, requires external inputs of fertilizers and agrochemicals for the crop to journey beyond the 15-25 year life-span.

“Our cocoa is not growing healthily and yields are also beginning to suffer. So, invariably, we have to, at any cost, try to bring back shades into that system because the hybrid also does well under shade,” said the researcher.

Now, the government’s policy looks at the possibility of managing areas outside the permanent reserves on sustainable basis, including the promotion of agro-forestry and tree planting.

Farmers are now encouraged to integrate trees in their cocoa production.

Promoting a More Beneficial Shade-Loving System

Ghana has lost half of its forests since 2000, and the rate of loss is two percent per year.

Head of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Fund (CIF), Mafalda Duarte, during a recent visit to Ghana, reiterated the country’s risk of losing its total forest cover if the trend of forest loss continued unchecked.

The CIF has over the past decade invested $75.7 million in Ghana’s reforestation program, implemented by the Forestry Commission and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to help reverse forest degradation in reserves and off-reserves.

The Fund’s intervention is driving a paradigm shift in cocoa production from a “sun loving system” to a more beneficial “shade-loving system” for better yields, better soil, better preserved water streams and biodiversity.

“We ask the farmers to combine the cocoa trees with timber trees, high yielding economic trees. Once you have the timber trees on the farm, they will be providing a lot of shade because cocoa is a forest plant and it thrives best when it exists with other trees,” said COCOBOD Chief Executive, Joseph Boahen Aidoo.

Partnerships for Sustainable Cocoa Production

Among challenges affecting productivity levels of cocoa in West Africa are over-aged and diseased farms.

The world’s top cocoa producer, Cote d’Ivoire, which supplies two million tons of cocoa to the world market annually, is joining forces with Ghana to sustainably grow the bean.

The two leading cocoa economies are accessing a $1.2 billion investment facility from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to rehabilitate cocoa farms and replace forests that were razed to grow cocoa beans.

In Ghana, about 10,000 hectares of diseased cocoa trees will be cut down across the country from August 2018 as the COCOBOD kick-starts series of interventions to increase cocoa yields.

“We are also embarking on irrigation because of the climate effect…to help the farmers harvest all year round,” said Joseph Boahen Aidoo.

The drive to promote sustainable climate-smart cocoa production has been supported by not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations.

SNV Ghana, for instance, has over the years partnered the COCOBOD, the Forestry Commission and some private licensed cocoa buying companies to expose farmers to interventions in climate mitigation and adaptation for sustainable cocoa production.

“Indeed, the negative impact of climate change has become real in virtually all cocoa growing areas across the country and the results are decreasing productivity per unit size of farm,” said Charles Brefo-Nimo of SNV Ghana.

Under the SNV’s Shaded Cocoa Agroforestry Systems (SCAFS), farmers are supplied with tree seedlings to encourage afforestation for improved productivity.

“I received 1,111 cocoa hybrid seedlings, 1,111 pieces of plantain suckers and 30 pieces of economic trees for free, and this means that I have saved a lot of money to make other financial commitments,” said Yaa Ampomah, 60 year old farmer at Essam in the Bia West District of the Western region.

Putting Farmers First to Drive Smart Production

Prior to SNV’s intervention to introduce the farmers to new cocoa farm establishment model, they used to rehabilitate their unproductive farms by using cocoa beans from the disease susceptible Amazon cocoa pod without any planting design.

“Today, we are provided with technical agronomy and extensions support to do lining and pegging as well as using shade system in our farms,” said Christian Nkrumah, a 34 year old farmer from Asuopri Community.

FORIG’s Dr. Anglaaere expects that cocoa farmers would be trained and empowered to plant 15-30 trees on an acre of cocoa farm, more than the 6-7 trees recommended by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).

“It is just how you manage the trees that determine the level of impact that they have on the cocoa,” he said. “The type of tree species and management of the trees are important for climate smart production”.

He explained that cocoa and coffee are more shade-tolerant than other agricultural products. Therefore, the number of trees that can be put under food crops is not comparable to the number of trees that the cocoa crop can tolerate.

COCOBOD says it is implementing innovations to improve crop yield in order to boost the country’s cocoa production to one million metric tons ahead of a five-year target.

But Charles Brefo-Nimo of SNV Ghana, says the future for sustainable cocoa production in Ghana requires a multi-facet approach which should be grounded on strong public and private sector funding.

“Cocoa renovation and rehabilitation with agro-forestry system model is a critical climate change adaptation model but other innovative models such as appropriate cost effective and affordable irrigation scheme should be introduced at smallholder levels,” he said.

Community outreach motivates Timeabu farmers to appreciate the business of farming

Farmers at Timeabu are excited at opportunities to improve their levels of production and productivity, following a community outreach program spearheaded by the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS), a not-for-profit organization.
 

The predominantly cocoa production community in the Ejisu-Juabeng Municipality of Ashanti region has in years past experienced challenges in accessing information and farm inputs to enhance their cocoa operations.

“We don’t even know which district is responsible for the marketing of our cocoa produce,” lamented local chief farmer, Mohammed Haruna.

Other production challenges faced by the over 100 farmers include erratic supply of pesticides, access to improved seedlings, poor marketing systems and upholding best agronomic practices.

The community outreach event offered a platform for the farmers to get their challenges addressed whilst shaping other perceptions and practices that impede higher production.

CCCFS engaged cocoa and agricultural officers to sensitize and help address the concerns of the farmers – some of the farmers had instant solutions to their issues, whilst others received assurance of a short-term intervention.

A Senior Research Officer at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Fuad Abubakar, encouraged the farmers to desist from over- reliance on government for support but invest in their farming as a business.

"Treat it as any business venture and give it the all attention it needs. Surely, it will pay you back," he emphasized.

Mr. Abubakar said the farmers can position themselves to reap higher returns if they see their venture as any private business entity.

Bekwai District Cocoa Officer, Abednagao Asante, commended CCCFS for the initiative and promised to make available requested inputs by the farmers.

He acknowledged his responsibility to help turn around the fortunes of the farmers.

The farmers, at the end of the session, expressed renewed hope to turn round their fortunes with increased production in the seasons ahead.

"We promise ourselves that this will be the time for us to make farming a real business. We also promise to get better organized, and budget our time and money better on farming," said one of the farmers.

The Timeabu community is also challenged with access to electricity and teachers to handle the only primary school in the area, a situation they appeal for government’s support.

A stream, serving as the main source of drinking water for the community, has also been polluted from upstream as a result of illegal mining activities.

Board Member of the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security, Kofi Adu Domfeh, cautioned the farmers against giving away their farmlands for artisanal mining purposes if they are to be financially and environmentally secured.

“Don’t be lured to sell your lands for galamsey,” he said. “Yes, you may reap the benefit now but the real consequences of the activities may stay for ages; our lands, trees and water bodies are under threat of extinction and we need to secure the future for the next generation.”

Mr. Domfeh shared his experience from other countries where farmer cooperatives thrive and enjoined the local farmers to join forces to get issues addressed collectively.

CCCFS has committed to take the community outreach program to other deprived farming communities in Ghana.

The Centre’s goal is to empower depressed farming economies to be among the resolution-makers determined to make a difference for improved livelihoods.

 

CCCFS has other uniquely designed programs to promote environmental and climate change awareness in schools, and promote farming as a lucrative venture for young people.

These include ‘Food for Africa’, which involves a group of agriculture enthusiasts across Africa and beyond sharing ideas on a common platform to promote food production.

The centre also runs the ‘Young Aspiring African Farmers’ initiative.

COCOBOD to increase distribution of free cocoa hybrid seedlings

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has indicated government will increase the distribution of hybrid cocoa seedlings to farmers across the country next year.

COCOCBOD made available 50million free cocoa seedlings to farmers in the current crop season. This is in addition to free fertilizer distribution to the cocoa farmers.

Deputy Chief Executive, Dr. Francis Kofi Oppong, has however acknowledged the seedlings were not enough to reach all farmers.

“COCOBOD will continue with its support to cocoa farmers,” he said. “In the coming year, we hope to distribute more than 50million because it did not reach all farmers; we will decide whether to give out 60-70million seedlings”.

Smuggling of cocoa beans, the impact of climate change on production and illegal mining activities on cocoa farms are major challenges to higher cocoa productivity in Ghana.

But COCOBOD is also worried at the ageing population of cocoa farmers.

Increasing access to the hybrid cocoa pods, which can be harvested between 2-3 years, has been identified as a means to attract the youth to venture the sector.

Meanwhile, Dr. Oppong has enjoined farmers to resist any attempt by cocoa health and extension officers to take away their voters identity cards in a bid to register them to access cocoa seedlings and fertilizers.

“All therein is to register with the extension officer, who will take a measurement of the farm to ascertain the number of cocoa seeds needed,” he stated. “Don’t give out your voter’s ID to the officer, and report such person because that is not the instruction for the seed distribution. The officer only needs a means to prove that you are a farmer, so it is enough just to show your ID that you are a farmer, it should not be taken away”.

Dr. Oppong spoke at the 21^st Annual Delegates Conference of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union in Kumasi.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Kuapa Kokoo exceeds cocoa purchase target for current crop season

Kuapa Kokoo Limited (KKL), a licensed buying company, has exceeded its cocoa production target even before end of the 2014/2015 crop season.

As at end of July 2015, the company has bought 720,000 bags of cocoa, against a target of 640,000 bags.

This was disclosed at the 21^st Annual Delegates Conference of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union in Kumasi.

“The Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union will continue to support Kuapa Kokoo Limited by resourcing them and also ensuring that they adhere to Fairtrade standards. It is the duty and obligation of all members of the Union that we sell our produce to KKL in order to strengthen our own LBC,” said Madam Fatima Ali, President of the Union.

Despite operational challenges faced, the crop year saw a remarkable performance of Kuapa Kokoo and its activities since the company was established in 1993.

KKL purchased 983,823 bags (61,488.93 metric tonnes) of cocoa in the 2013/2014 main crop season and during the 2014 light crop season purchased 13,166 bags (822.88 metric tonnes).

The company’s revenue increased by 58% from Gh3,220,000 in 2013 to Gh5,088,000 in 2014. However, income over expenditure dropped by 80.9% from Gh230,735 in 2013 to Gh44,016 in 2014.

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has commended the company for its performance and prompt payment of loans.

Kuapa Kokoo currently has 6.9% market share of Ghana’s cocoa output. 

Membership of its farmers union has increased to 100,500 across the Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Western and Brong Ahafo Regions.

The Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union also owns the biggest share of 44% in Divine Chocolate Limited, based in the UK with a franchise in the USA.

Divine Chocolate sold £8.2 million of chocolate in the UK between July 2013 and June 2014, with a profit of £166,000. In the previous year, the company posted a turnover of over £5.6million and a profit of £44,000.

Shareholders are receiving a dividend of £57,000 – Kuapa Kokoo gets £24,000 (about Gh150,000) of the amount. The farmers received same dividend last year.

According to Managing Director of Divine, Sophi Tranchell, “the figures for 2014/2015 are looking even more promising. Our business in the USA, which was established in 2007, saw even better growth, and at the end of the year was close to making its first profit”.

The 21^st Annual Delegates Conference was on the theme: “Deepening Decentralization through the Cooperative Way… A Vital Tool for Farmer Development”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghana will meet cocoa production targets, says LBC

Licensed buying companies say the business of cocoa purchases was generally slow in 2014.

The industry players are however optimistic business will pick up gradually before closure of the main crop season.

“When you have a bounty harvest the previous year, the following year is likely to be a bit slow,” explained Emmanuel Arthur, Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Company Limited, a Ghanaian farmer-based organization.

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has projected a production target of 850,000 metric tonnes for the 2014-2015 cocoa crop season.

The upward review of the producer price of cocoa and premium payments for certified cocoa beans are factors expected to motivate farmers to boost production.

“The season being slow does not mean we are not getting the cocoa but it is not as brisk and as bountiful as it used to be, but it is likely we can meet target,” stated Mr. Arthur.

He has also observed that the 62 percent increase in producer price of cocoa announced in October 2014 is attracting a lot more people to venture cocoa farming.

“People are now rehabilitating their farms and trying to put up new farms; people are now going back to the hinterlands looking for their lands which they abandoned,” Mr. Arthur noted. “I believe that if we will be very brave and be marching our local price against the world market price, especially anytime it goes up, then I believe a lot of people will go into cocoa farming”.

Improved port activities will also enhance haulage of cocoa beans for export, he added.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Ghana’s cocoa extension service to farmers critical to sustainable production

Interest groups in Ghana’s cocoa trade are directing attention to cocoa extension service delivery to farmers for the country to sustain production and be globally competitive.

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in 2010 instituted a new extension system for cocoa farmers under a public-private partnership with the aim of removing duplication of efforts by partners.

The initiative was also to reduce the cost of extension delivery to the over 800 thousand cocoa farming families.

According to the COCOBOD, the 250 cocoa extension staff under the partnership have reached close to 100 thousand farmers since the inception of the PPP arrangement.

But the system has yet to achieve the full cooperation of partner companies and institutions to yield the requisite impact at the farmer’ level.

“We have a challenge with the cocoa extension public-private partnership,” stated Dr. Francis Oppong, an Executive Director at COCOBOD, who has expressed worry that a couple of private partners have indicated their intention to stay out of the arrangement.

“We are addressing that but we need to have a clear cut policy on this so that whichever organization comes on board this platform will operate under certain conditions,” he said.

Dr. Oppong has announced that a committee established by the COCOBOD to devise the Cocoa Sector Policy on Extension has completed its work. He is hoping the policy adoption will deepen engagements with extension services.

Extension staff work with cocoa farmers on the field to ensure they cultivate healthy and productive cocoa trees.

Their work has become even more critical as global clients demand that cocoa delivered on the market are produced under socially and environmentally acceptable manner.

“There is a certain dynamics going on in the cocoa sector where companies sourcing cocoa are asking for certified sustainable cocoa. What it means is that farmers need to be trained in good production practices; farmers need to be supported to develop internal control systems that allow them to report o n the production practices,” noted Isaac Gyamfi, Managing Director, Solidaridad West Africa.

There is therefore the need for a paradigm shift that will lead to acquisition of new skills, ideas and methods to improve delivery of extensions services to farmers.

The World Cocoa Foundation, COCOBOD, USAID and Solidaridad have completed a capacity building programme for close to 400 mid and senior level staff of the Cocobod’s Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit (CSSVD-CU), focusing on fair-trade standards in cocoa certification and new techniques in communications and facilitation skills.

The Ghana Cocoa Platform, which serves as the main forum to build consensus among players in the cocoa sector on all industry issues, has extension and productivity as one of the thematic areas for dialoguing.

“Cocobod and all sector stakeholders are not unaware of the need to get farmers not only to do the right production practices but also to innovate their production systems,” says Isaac Gyamfi.

Whilst competitors in South-East Asia are producing up to 2,000kg per hectare of cocoa, Ghana and other West African producers are in the range of 400kg.

Mr. Gyamfi therefore notes the importance of helping farmers to access inputs, especially fertilizers, agro pesticides and credit.

Solidaridad is currently working with various private sector partners to pilot the establishment of Cocoa Rural Service Delivery Centers in Ghana.

The innovative agricultural extension model allows farmers to access marketing and input services at one location within the production district.

According to Mr. Gyamfi, the centers will roll out nationwide once the pilot phase has been validated.

Ghana wants to sustain its annual production target of between 800,000 and 900,000 tonnes through sustainable input supply systems and also sustain farmers’ income.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Ghana Cocoa Platform to help coordinate cocoa certification programmes

The Ghana Cocoa Platform would be looking at the effective coordination of cocoa certification programmes, as it begins work to find solutions to challenges impeding cocoa production.

The initiative of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is aimed at enhancing public-private dialogue and joint action planning to help scale up sustainable cocoa production.

“If the one million metric tonne target is not being achieved, why is it not being achieved? What can stakeholders do in order to get to that level?” quizzed Rita Owusu Amankwah, National Coordinator of Ghana Cocoa Platform.

Ghanaian licensed buying companies are increasingly falling in line with the production of certified and traceable cocoa, as the global chocolate and cocoa industry rapidly moves towards certified cocoa marketing.

As these programmes are driven by external organizations, there have been calls for the COCOBOD to play a lead role in establishing Ghanaian standards in the cocoa trade.

Mrs. Owusu Amankwah tells Luv Biz Report the Platform will engage interest groups in a coordinated manner to discuss and decide how to develop and harmonize cocoa certification programmes. These programmes require that farmers’ social, environmental and economic activities are in line with legitimate and best labour practices, in exchange for a premium price on the produce.

The Platform will also help tackle the impact of illegal mining activities (galamsey) on cocoa farms and issues of farming with trees.

 

A 10-member Steering Committee was inaugurated last week tasked with the responsibility of identifying bottlenecks and developing plans for the improvement in priority areas of the cocoa sector to boost production.

The private sector, according to Mrs. Owusu Amankwah, plays a crucial role if sustainability in the sector is to be achieved.

She is confident the Platform will be a major intervention to increase the fortunes of the cocoa sector.

“I believe strongly that this is an opportunity offered to all stakeholders in the cocoa sector to contribute and make sure that the cocoa sector is organized and coordinated in a sustainable way, so that everybody will benefit”.

Interest groups include farmers, licensed buying companies, transporters and regulators.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Kuapa Kokoo advocates continuous training for cocoa farmers

Education and training of cocoa farmers in good agricultural practices should be continuous for Ghana to get the most from the sector, says the Executive Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited, a licensed cocoa buying company.

Mr. Emmanuel Arthur says effective coordination of training programmes is important for the country to meet production targets.

“Very often we here that farmers are being given these technical knowledge but I don’t think it’s well organized; it should be well coordinated”, he stated.

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has rolled out a public-private partnership scheme in extension service.

Mr. Arthur wants the scheme to be “intensified and well structured to make the education and training continuous, so that when the farmer gets continuous training on good agricultural practices, it sustains the farming business and it sustains the cocoa industry.”

He spoke to Luv Biz Report at an event to reward about 20 outstanding staff of Kuapa Kokoo Limited in Kumasi. Peter Acquah, District Manager at Asawinso, won the topmost prize of a trip to Germany.

“Staff motivation is an essential element in management today, no matter how small the reward is, it is a way of recognizing the hard work of workers”, Mr. Arthur stated. “We have always been rewarding farmers but not the staff, and without the staff, the farmers will not be getting the benefits they are getting. So we thought it wise to motivate to staff as well.”

 

The company has a cocoa production target of 45,000 metric tonnes for 2013 and is hoping to grow its current five percent share of total cocoa purchases in Ghana.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

COCOBOD tasked to take lead role in certifying Ghana cocoa

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has been challenged to position itself in a lead role in the production of certified and traceable cocoa.

As the global chocolate and cocoa industry rapidly moves towards certified and sustainable cocoa marketing, Ghanaian licensed buying companies are increasingly falling in line.

However most of the certification programmes are driven by international Fair trade organizations like UTZ and Rainforest Alliance.

Cocoa Merchants Limited, for instance, is hoping to produce certified cocoa from November this year.

Managing Director, Nana Amo Adade Boamah, believes the interest of the local cocoa industry would be better served when the COCOBOD begins to establish Ghanaian standards in the cocoa trade.

“We should begin to have Ghana standards where all the people who buy Ghana cocoa would know and submit themselves to it… otherwise the industry will be driven by external factors and forces to the detriment of us”, suggested Nana Boamah.

Cocoa certification and traceability require that farmers’ social, environmental and economic activities are in line with legitimate and best labour practices, in exchange for a premium price on the produce.

Nana Boamah says making governance as part of routine activities on cocoa farms will help improve performance and expenditure of farmers.

“One of the tenets of this sustainable production is to empower the farmer in best agronomic practices, teaches them to avoid child labour and how to protect the environment”, he said.

He also says fertilizer importing companies must be mandated to build warehouses at regional depots in order to get farm inputs close to cocoa producing districts.

Cocoa Merchants Company achieved almost five percent market share in cocoa purchase in the last crop season.

The company has rewarded best performing farmers at a ceremony in Kumasi. Close to 100 cocoa farmers received tricycles, bicycles, LED television sets, refrigerators and computers.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

ICU sets agenda for Ghanaians to buy local for job security

Inadequate support to the private manufacturing sector to stimulate growth in the past four years has adversely contributed to the steady rise in Ghana’s unemployment rate.

This was stated by Gilbert Aminongya, Acting General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), Ghana, when he addressed the opening of ICU’s 9^th Quadrennial Delegates' Conference in Kumasi.

“Many workers including our 65,000 members are yet to have a feel of the better Ghana agenda with regard to improvement in their salaries and conditions of service”, he observed. “Some of the factors that greatly contributed to the current situation in the manufacturing sector during the ending quadrennial were the unprecedented increase in utility tariffs coupled with the erratic power supply”.

The Union has therefore set forth to engage government, employers, organized labour and civil society to pursue the agenda of “buy local, secure jobs and reduce poverty” in the next quadrennial.

Mr. Aminongya believes the effective collaboration among stakeholders will ensure “Ghanaians as the target group develop the appetite for home made goods and services, thereby growing the private manufacturing sector”.

He however tasked local industries to rebrand to make their products attracted and competitive.

Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Anthony Fofie, cited the textiles industries as well as the poultry and rice sub-sectors as witnessing difficult times “because of the Ghanaian desire for foreign tastes”.

Whilst promoting the acceptability and use of local products, he emphasized that quality improvement be upheld to make local products attractive.

According to Mr. Fofie, the potential job creation avenues can be enhanced fully if Ghanaians are prepared to consume local products, including cocoa.

“Opportunities exist for the emergence of viable local cocoa-based industries if we would increase our consumption of cocoa products. Besides creating jobs, increasing incomes and enhancing livelihoods, consumption of cocoa products have been shown to promote good health and longevity”’, he noted.

The COCOBOD CEO enjoined the ICU to come out with strategies and approached that will engage workers and the general populace on the need to save the Ghanaian economy through increased purchase and consumption of local products.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh