A cocoa farmer has described as politically motivated the acceptance by some cocoa farmers of the 21 percent recent producer price increase.
He said this “agenda” does not only discredit Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) as an organisation “but will lead to the gradual downfall of the cocoa sector of Ghana”.
“If the primary structures (farmers) that hold the institution is weak, the institution falls,” Mark Ewusi Arkoh predicted on Saturday, October 8.
He was surprised that some cocoa farmers support the 21 percent increment announced by the Minister of Agriculture, saying the economic hardship alone should have called for a 40 percent price increase.
“The economic hardship faced by farmers amidst high cost of farm inputs should be the least underlining factor to increase the producer price to 40% rather than the 21% as announced by government.
“This proposed increase is considerate judging from the fact that inputs have shot up to over 200% since the beginning of the year,” he justified the proposal.
Concluding, he described as “an abuse and an act of apathy towards the blood and toil of Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers to pitch the increase of cocoa price at 20% rather than a minimum 40%“.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana