2 million cocoa farmers on social security - Labour Minister

Members in the informal sector are mostly reported as people not under any social security.

To bridge this gap, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) have been able to rope in 2 million cocoa farmers onto the pension scheme.

Disclosing this at the ISSA Technical Seminar 2023 in Accra, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, said government was looking at bringing persons within these sectors; organized associations, transport associations and trade associations under social security cover.

He entreated pension agencies to leverage technology to make their work accessible to all.

He said, “Unfortunately, many of the players within the cocoa value chain can be found in the informal economy so they are not on social security. I am proud to say that since last year, government through the various pension agencies have worked to bring about 2 million cocoa farmers into the social security systems in Ghana.”

“This is going to be operational this year and when that is done, the numbers on social security will no longer be 1.8million but to 3.8million,” he added.

He further said, "We’re going to explore opportunities of including other important sectors of the economy like organized associations, transport associations, trade associations, and what have you and see how best we can also feature them on social security."

It would be recalled that government, through Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), also rolled out the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme (CFPS).

The scheme is to ensure a decent pension for cocoa farmers, improve their welfare, and also make cocoa farming attractive to the youth.

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