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The Best Cocoa Farmers Association (BeCoFA) of the Western-South Region has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ignore the unwarranted calls for the dismissal of Mr. Joseph Boahene Aidoo as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).
The Association deems the CEO as hardworking, committed, dedicated, a great servant of cocoa farmers, and a farmer-friendly policy driver.
The association stated that Mr. Boahene Aidoo has demonstrated his interest in farmers by initiating several farmer-centered policies since assuming office in 2017. Over the last few months, the media landscape has been flooded with stories of several bodies calling for the dismissal of the current COCOBOD CEO.
At a press briefing in Bogoso in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality of the Western Region, the Chairman of BeCoFA, Nana Kwadwo Amoako, flanked by other executive members, cataloged interventions by Mr. Boahene Aidoo in the cocoa business. He mentioned that the CEO had provided cocoa farmers with mechanized pruner-slashers, petrol, and engine oil for free, recruited laborers to embark upon mass pruning of cocoa farms, and supplied cooperative farmers nationwide with free pruning saws to do better jobs.
Nana Amoako further highlighted the innovation of Artificial Hand Pollination introduced by Mr. Boahene Aidoo, explaining that before 2017, farmers depended mostly on wind and insects to pollinate their farms, which could not help them realize their full potential in terms of yields.
However, with Artificial Hand Pollination, some serious cocoa farmers are now harvesting 40 bags per acre in Bompieso, and single cocoa trees are producing more than 2,000 pods equivalent to almost one and a half bags—an innovation that has created jobs for the youth in cocoa-growing areas.
Another unique intervention mentioned by Nana Amoako is the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme initiated by the CEO to deal with the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease. He noted that under the leadership of the CEO, diseased trees were cut, pre-planting activities were done, and robust hybrid cocoa and plantain seedlings were supplied and carted for free, ensuring that farmers planted and maintained these farms for two years at no cost to them.
Nana Amoako also mentioned initiatives such as the supply of free foliar and liquid fertilizers, flowering inducers to enhance cocoa yield, the introduction of the Cocoa Management System to build a database for all cocoa farmers to kickstart the decade-old Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme, and the Input Credit Subsidized Fertilizers policy.
He praised the CEO for bridging the gap between Extension Agents and farmers, having engaged over 1,400 Community Extension Agents to visit and teach farmers.
Nana Amoako outlined some teething challenges confronting the cocoa sector under the tenure of Mr. Boahene Aidoo and the pragmatic approach to address them, which gave hope to farmers. He mentioned steps taken to salvage the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease by launching the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme, as well as efforts to clamp down on illegal mining activities in cocoa-growing communities and combat climate change.
On behalf of the Best Cocoa Farmers Association, Nana Amoako expressed confidence in the leadership of Mr. Boahene Aidoo and strongly believed that with the support of God, all cocoa farmers, and the aggressive implementation of the above well-thought-out programs and interventions, Ghana's cocoa production would peak again in 2024/2025, just like the previous unprecedented tonnage of one million and forty-seven thousand (1,047,000) metric tonnes in 2020/2021.
