Gov’t urged to support cocoa farmers
By Solace AMANKWA
The Africa Cocoa Coalition, a group of non- governmental organizations promoting quality cocoa production in Africa, has urged the government and all stakeholders in the cocoa industry to ensure cocoa farmers benefited from their labour.
The group observed that farmers in cocoa producing countries, particularly Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire, appear to be the most vulnerable to the inequity in the distribution of the returns along the cocoa value chain.
At a roundtable discussion on the theme: "Sustainable Cocoa Economy in Ghana," the national coordinator of Africa Cocoa Coalition, David Kpelle, said farmers were ageing as well as their cocoa farms and noted that incentives to encourage the youth to take over from the ageing farmers were not enough.
He noted that there is the need to define a sustainable cocoa economy as one in which each person investing time or money into the cocoa supply chain would earn a decent income.
According to him, almost 800,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana who had been involved in the process to create a sustainable cocoa economy are living in poverty.
This, he said, is not the best and therefore government need to put in place measures that would address the plight of the farmers.
The forum afforded the participants the opportunity to reach an agreement on the way forward on the internalization of key priority areas in achieving a sustainable cocoa economy.
While urging government to take proactive measures towards sustainable cocoa economy, Kpelle said the global demand for cocoa was projected to reach about 4.3 million tonnes per year by 2012 and that Ghana has to position herself to take advantage to meet the global demand.
Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, in a speech read on his behalf, suggested fair trade and fair price as one solution to help cocoa farmers to benefit from their labour.
"Market developments which negatively affect the interests of farmers tend to move people, especially the youth to urban centres in search of non-existent jobs," he said, adding that such negative developments had the tendency to disrupt production processes.
Duffuor pledged government's commitment to ensure a sustainable cocoa economy and said government was prepared to cooperate with development partners and other groups committed to sustainability.
By Solace AMANKWA
The Africa Cocoa Coalition, a group of non- governmental organizations promoting quality cocoa production in Africa, has urged the government and all stakeholders in the cocoa industry to ensure cocoa farmers benefited from their labour.
The group observed that farmers in cocoa producing countries, particularly Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire, appear to be the most vulnerable to the inequity in the distribution of the returns along the cocoa value chain.
At a roundtable discussion on the theme: "Sustainable Cocoa Economy in Ghana," the national coordinator of Africa Cocoa Coalition, David Kpelle, said farmers were ageing as well as their cocoa farms and noted that incentives to encourage the youth to take over from the ageing farmers were not enough.
He noted that there is the need to define a sustainable cocoa economy as one in which each person investing time or money into the cocoa supply chain would earn a decent income.
According to him, almost 800,000 cocoa farmers in Ghana who had been involved in the process to create a sustainable cocoa economy are living in poverty.
This, he said, is not the best and therefore government need to put in place measures that would address the plight of the farmers.
The forum afforded the participants the opportunity to reach an agreement on the way forward on the internalization of key priority areas in achieving a sustainable cocoa economy.
While urging government to take proactive measures towards sustainable cocoa economy, Kpelle said the global demand for cocoa was projected to reach about 4.3 million tonnes per year by 2012 and that Ghana has to position herself to take advantage to meet the global demand.
Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, in a speech read on his behalf, suggested fair trade and fair price as one solution to help cocoa farmers to benefit from their labour.
"Market developments which negatively affect the interests of farmers tend to move people, especially the youth to urban centres in search of non-existent jobs," he said, adding that such negative developments had the tendency to disrupt production processes.
Duffuor pledged government's commitment to ensure a sustainable cocoa economy and said government was prepared to cooperate with development partners and other groups committed to sustainability.
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