A 65-year-old cocoa farmer in the Bomaa district of the Ahafo region, Seth Fosu Yeboah, has appealed to the government to support cocoa farmers in order to make the profession attractive to the youth.
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Seth Fosu Yeboah, shared that due to the lack of support from government, he never encouraged any of his children to involve themselves in the cocoa farming business. Rather, he made it a point to support them in their education and now they are doing very well for themselves.
Speaking in an interview with Happy FM’s Don Prah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, he expressed: “Government appointees handling the cocoa sector should turn their attention to the cocoa farmers to make the profession attractive to our children. Make the cocoa farming profession attractive. They can support us with tractors, and long booths that will support us in our work”.
Serving as a cocoa farmer for about fifty years, Seth lamented that often, COCOBOD delays in paying for cocoa presented by buying companies and that also affect the money they receive as cocoa farmers.
He, thus, noted how important it was for government to give continuous support to cocoa farmers.
The cocoa sector faces a number of challenges. A large portion of cocoa farmers are affected by poverty, and child labour remains a prevailing issue. In addition, cocoa is often produced at the expense of the environment.
Most of the cocoa farming families live in extreme poverty. In Ghana for instance, it is estimated that the income gap is about 50% of the living income benchmark value with cocoa production contributing to about two thirds of farmers’ income.
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Cocoa production is also threatened by ageing plantations, poor farm management, soil degradation and increasing pest and disease pressure. To increase production and meet demand, cocoa producers often rely on the clearing of additional forest land, which have now suffered from galamsey.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah