THE MINISTER of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has charged members of the Board of COCOBOD to bring their managerial expertise bear on government’s objective of achieving one million metric tonnes of cocoa in the next four years.
The Minister said it was the vision of the current administration under the leadership of His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to arrest the declining trend of Ghana’s cocoa sector by increasing production to one million metric tonnes by the end of the first term.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto, who made the promise when he swore in two additional members of the Board of Directors of COCOBOD reiterated government’s plans to incentivize cocoa farmers by introducing several interventions aimed at revamping the sector in order to increase production.
The two additional members of the Board were Dr. Ernest K. Y. Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Mr. Charles Adu Boahen, Deputy Minister of Finance. They were not readily available during the official swearing in by the President some months ago.
Their addition therefore completes the full list of nine members that make up the Board of Directors of COCOBOD.
The Minister indicated that the cocoa sector was very dear to the heart of the President and Ghanaians and therefore charged them to work efficiently and effectively to achieve the government’s ambition.
“You know the task ahead of you; there is a declining growth of cocoa in the country, your job as a Board is well cut out and that is this government wants to take cocoa production to one million metric tonnes by the end of the first four years. It therefore behoves on you to adopt the right strategies that will ensure that our target is achieved,” the Minister charged.
The Deputy Finance Minister, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen, who spoke on behalf of the two members, pledged to work diligently to ensure the fulfilment of the government’s objectives.
