Ghana COCOBOD is set to cut down the exportation of Ghana’s cocoa beans to the international Market in its raw state.
According to COCOBOD, 50 per cent of Ghana’s cocoa beans is to be processed locally in the very short term.
This was disclosed by Rev. Dr Emmanuel Ahia Clottey, the Acting Executive Director of seed production unit at COCOBOD in a dialogue meeting held with Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) at COCOBOD Board Room in Accra. They are therefore inviting prospective investors to take advantage of this move.
Ghana has been exporting its cocoa beans to the international market in its raw states for decades now and as a result, cocoa farmers in the country are not getting a fair price from their produce, which is making life unbearable for the cocoa bean producers.
Cocoa is Ghana’s most valuable traditional crop. It plays a crucial role in generating foreign exchange for the country.
Cocoa injected more than 2 Billion US dollars into the economy in the 2017/2018 cocoa season and this figure will continue to rise to earn more foreign exchange for the country and put more money into the pockets of our farmers.
But it is estimated that the country stands to rake in 20billion dollars annually from only chocolate production.
They are therefore calling on prospective investors to consider investing in the cocoa sector through processing since 50 per cent of the beans is to be reserved for local production.
This has become necessary at the time the government is struggling to give a fair price for the producers of the cocoa beans.
“If we are able to process more of our beans locally, the chance that we will get competitive pricing for our beans would appreciate at the world market, and this will affect the pockets of our cocoa farmers in the long run”, he said
Over the years, there have been price fluctuations in the world market, making it difficult for the government to also increase the producer price.
Farmers demand for a fair price, coupled with backing by political opponents, calls for this paradigm shift as the government has little to do within its mandate to heed the plight of our cherished farmers.
Rev Tetteh, says the era of exporting our raw beans to the international market for foreign exchange has been revised and the onus lies on us as a country to process more for local consumption as the benchmark for it has been set by COCOBOD.
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