President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday announced an ambitious plan to revive the country’s cocoa industry by expanding production by 200,000 hectares. The move comes amid mounting challenges facing the sector, including declining yields, farmer disincentives, and widespread smuggling.
Speaking during a stop on his national Thank You tour in the Ahafo Region, Mr. Mahama framed the initiative as a cornerstone of his broader strategy to restore one of Ghana’s most critical export industries.
“Plans are underway to revamp the collapsed cocoa sector,” Mahama said. “Incentives will be provided to our hardworking farmers to increase cocoa production. We aim to add 200,000 hectares of cocoa to Ghana’s output to increase the income of our farmers.”
Cocoa is a vital source of revenue for Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer after Côte d’Ivoire. But in recent years, the sector has been hobbled by structural inefficiencies, volatile pricing, and reduced investment in farm infrastructure.
President Mahama also noted that the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Randy Abbey, is expected to announce a revised cocoa producer price in August. “It will be a very good price,” Mahama assured, hinting at a more lucrative payout to bolster farmer confidence.
He went on to urge prospective farmers to enter the cocoa business, signaling a push to broaden participation in the industry. “So those of you who do not have cocoa farms, go and start looking for land and start planting cocoa,” he said.
The announcement has sparked optimism in some quarters of the agricultural sector, where stakeholders see the proposed expansion as a catalyst for job creation, rural development, and a potential increase in foreign exchange earnings.
However, analysts caution that successful implementation will require clear policy direction, access to credit for smallholder farmers, and stronger enforcement to curb cross-border smuggling, which continues to siphon off a significant share of Ghana’s cocoa harvest.
Source:TheDotNews