‘Let Us Unite And Fight Against Galamsey In Cocoa Growing Areas’- COCOBOD
Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has pleaded with all citizens to collaborate to help fight against illegal mining commonly called ”galamsey” in all cocoa-growing areas in the country.
Speaking at the 4th Ghana Cocoa Dinner and Awards Night held at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City on Friday, November 11, 2022, Dr. Francis Baah, a Director of Research who stood in for the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), indicated that, “one of our pride as Ghanaians is the presence of cocoa in the country”.
The theme for this year’s Ghana Cocoa Dinner and Award Night was “Decent Income For Sustainable Cocoa Production”.
The event honored hardworking cocoa farmers and most journalists in Ghana for their outstanding reportage on the effect of illegal mining on cocoa production in Ghana.
COCOBOD used the opportunity to also enlighten the guests on the benefits of cocoa to the nation as being an exported product and the chocolates derived from it for consumption.
According to him, “Cocoa continues to be our national pride and we must deliberately protect it. It has a great measure of nutritional and health benefits, and it must be made part of the daily meals of all. Let’s take advantage of this niche crop and protect it for posterity. Let’s support the fight against galamsey in cocoa growing areas by joining in sensitizing farmers about the economic, nutritional, and health benefits of the cultivation of cocoa as against the immediate benefits that galamsey seeks to promise”.
Speaking on the income of the main producers of cocoa, he hinted at the measures the government is taking to improve the pricing of cocoa beans in order to improve the wages of the farmers.
“We will not bow to the incessant pressure from saboteurs of our efforts, particularly, the Living Income Differential (LID) pricing mechanism which Ghana, Ivory Coast, and lately, Nigeria have agreed to adopt in selling our cocoa beans. We have used several platforms to make a case for this new pricing mechanism since 2018 when the idea of improving upon the impoverished condition of cocoa farmers was birthed. However, it appears many of the trade houses and other agencies are thwarting our efforts at achieving the full realization of the LID”.
The Ghana Cocoa Board from 2018 to date, has been engaging with stakeholders as to how to improve cocoa production in ghana and increase the exporting rate to earn the country more income.
In addition to that, he highlighted how COCOBOD came up with a policy in 2018 to ensure that at least 50% of cocoa produced annually is processed.
Explaining the policy further, he averred “we have indeed made gains by achieving 40% over the last five years of intensive campaigns and stakeholder engagements. But that does not seem enough as the country’s per capita consumption has slightly improved to 0.56kg. Although not too encouraging, the indication is positive indeed”.
The media personnel who were honored were also encouraged not to give up in their explicit reportage in order to help bring to book the perpetrators of illegal mining in the galamsey areas of the country.