By: Prince Paul
President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo says the government is committed to raising the country’s cocoa production to one million tons and also ensuring that 50 percent of the beans are processed locally. He said the government would also find new markets to improve the country’s standing in the cocoa value chain.
Inaugurating the Board of Directors of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOABOD) at the Flagstaff House in Accra, President Akuffo Addo expressed the government’s determination to make the coca industry lucrative. He said cocoa had been the backbone of the economy for over a century and still contributed a quarter of Ghana’s export earnings.
According to the President, towns such as Suhum, Nsawam and Dodowa were built on the back of the wealth from cocoa and it was regrettable, he observed, that over the years, cocoa productivity had dwindled due to the activities of illegal miners, price volatility on the world market and allegations of corruption at COCOABOD.
‘The sector has been awash with stories which are being investigated. If these stories are true, measures will be put in place to ensure that they never occur again,’ he added.
President Akuffo Addo urged the board, chaired by Mr. Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Minister of Water, Works and Housing in the Kuffour administration, to help restore the country’s pride as a vibrant cocoa producing country. He said Mr. Owusu Agyemang had considerable experience from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and indicated that the other member of the board had been carefully chosen because they had the qualities to help revive the industry.
He described the task ahead of the board members as onerous but expressed confidence in the caliber of personalities who, he said, were capable of delivering. ‘The Ghanaian people are looking at you. They want to see a new leaf turned in the manner in which our cocoa industry has been managed,’ he said.
The president said the board would be supervised by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a passionate advocate for the cocoa industry. ‘From where I am standing, I have put together a winning team and I am hoping that your performance will show that my judgment is right,’ he said.
Speaking on behalf of the board, Mr. Owusu-Agyemang said the team would work hard to revive the cocoa industry and achieve the government’s production target of one million tons of cocoa.
Other members of the board are Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo; Kwame Sarpong and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Abdul Nasiri Issahaku.The rest are Nana Adwoa Dokua, Nana Johnson Mensah, Nana Obeng Akrofi, Peter Atta Boakye, Charles Adu Boahen, Carlos Ahenkorah and Dr Jire Nura.
Source:ritefmonline.org
