Official appeals to cocoa farmers to pay back loan

Tepa (Ash), Aug 25, GNA - Dr Michael Appiah, the National Co-ordinator of Cocoa HI-TECH Programme, has said if farmers embraced the new technology then they must pay back the cost of inputs supplied to them in order to sustain it.

He said since the implementation of the technology in the cocoa growing areas about two years ago, most of the farmers have not paid back the inputs supplied to them costing several millions of cedis through the district assemblies and the Licensing Buying Companies (LBCs).

Dr Appiah said this at a farmer's forum at Tepa in the Ahafo-Ano North District on Wednesday to discuss the Cocoa HI-TECH application in the district.

He said 90 per cent of farmers in the country who contracted loans from banking and other financial institutions deliberately failed to pay back the loans and advised them to change this negative attitude to avoid being described as "non-credit worthy people."

Nana Moses Oppong Fordjour, the District Chief Cocoa Farmer, appealed to the Cocoa Services Division of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to constantly visit them and guide them in the proper application of the technology to enable them to have its full benefits.