By: Nana Yaw Reuben
Accra – As part of efforts to help increase farm profitability and ensure that the root cause of poverty are addressed for cocoa farmers in Ghana, SEND Ghana, Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform (GCCP) and COCOBOD held a stakeholder dialogue to strengthen collaboration and continuous communication on ongoing cocoa sector reforms.
The dialogue came at a time when farmers believe good pricing is the engine to sustaining the cocoa sector in Ghana.
The objectives of this dialogue convened by SEND Ghana covered a wide spectrum of issues in the sector raised by farmer leaders more importantly the persistent communication divide between cocoa producers and regulatory authorities.
Target
The dialogue brought in more than 20 key farmer leaders including the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association Limited (GCCFA), Ghana Civil Society Cocoa Platform (GCCP), Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Voice of African Farmers and the Cocoa Media Hub to discuss ways to ensure continuous communication in the sector.
The discussions addressed regional and international cocoa issues including Free Inputs Distribution Programme, the Cocoa Management System (CMS), European Union Deforestation Regulations (EUDR), ongoing COCOBOD reforms, Productivity Enhancement Interventions, and the critical role of farmer leaders and Civil Society in cascading these laudable initiatives to cocoa farmers across the country.
Presentations
In his welcome remarks, Coordinator for GCCP & Programme Officer at SEND Ghana, Nana Kwasi Barning Ackah, outlined the platform’s mandate, which emphasized regional cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire as a cornerstone for sector-wide reform.
He argued that strengthening independent farmer-based organizations is essential to securing the Living Income Differential initiative and ensuring long-term adherence to environmental and human rights standards.
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, the Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Sam Jerome, reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to working closely with civil society and farmer-based organisations to ensure that interventions and cocoa sector reforms are well understood and effectively implemented for the benefit of farmers.
He mentioned that the regulator views farmer-based organizations as vital partners for information dissemination, asserting that effective policy formulation is impossible without accurate, granular data flowing from the field.
On the technical front, COCOBOD experts provided updates on the Cocoa Management System and also update on Cocoa Disease and Pest Control Programme (CODAPEC).
“We can confirm that approximately 1.3 million farms have been mapped, with 795,923 validated while about 89,000 personal protective equipment sets and 26,000 equipments including; mist blowers have been distributed.
Appreciation
Farmer leaders welcomed the engagement as a timely opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Board’s interventions, reforms and programmes.
They also shared perspectives on key challenges confronting cocoa farmers and called for sustained stakeholder engagement, transparent communication and continued collaboration to ensure that farmers remain informed, actively involved and positioned to benefit from ongoing reforms in Ghana’s cocoa sector.
The meeting concluded with assurance that the persistent communication divide between cocoa producers and regulatory authorities will be addressed in the ongoing sector reforms to ensure that interventions are well understood and effectively implemented for the benefit of farmers and their communities.
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