Sustain child protection campaign in cocoa areas

A new farmers’ association has been inaugurated at Juaso with a call on stakeholders to help sustain the campaign of providing children in cocoa growing communities with adequate protection.

Mrs. Margaret Frimpong Ayerakwa, a Principal Technical Officer of Cocoa Health Extension of COCOBOD, said they must unite in their efforts to discourage child labour in cocoa farming.

She said kids should be put in school, and that, it was wrong to put them on cocoa farms to work.

She gave the advice at a ceremony to inaugurate the Unity Cocoa Farmers Association, a new farmer group formed in Juaso, in the Asante-Akim South District.

The association seeks to promote the common interest of farmers and assist them to take advantage of the various interventions in the cocoa sector to boost crop yield and returns.

Mrs. Ayerakwa urged them to work closely with the cocoa health extension officers to raise production levels.

Mr. De-graft Forkuo, the District Chief Executive (DCE), applauded the decision by the farmers to come together to pursue the common goal of improving the cocoa sector and advised that they adopted new farming technologies.

He also asked the executive to be transparent and accountable, and said, that was the only way to make the association vibrant.

Mr. Stephen Owusu-Antwi, the Chairman of the Association, said they were determined to inspire the youth to take to cocoa farming.