COCOBOD boss meets Olam Cocoa managers; pledges support for farmers

Olam Ghana, one of the leading agri-commodity companies in Ghana has organised a conference for its cocoa managers across the country.

Olam, as one of the largest private Licensed Buying Companies (LBC) in Ghana’s cocoa sector, saw the need to engage its cocoa farm managers at the Bunso Cocoa College in the Eastern Region.

The training conference is to ensure that the managers were well-equipped for the cocoa business, and also to keep abreast with management decisions.

The special guest for the 2018 Olam Cocoa Managers’ Conference was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo.

In his interaction with the management of Olam Cocoa, Mr. Aidoo stated that the cocoa farmer must be taken very good care of since the farmer is the most important part of the cocoa value chain.

Mr Aidoo admonished the managers to ensure that the farmers are protected and instances of cheating are stopped completely.

According to him, in the cocoa value chain the farmer gets the smallest, hence as much as possible must be done to make the farmer comfortable.

He added that, government on its part is ensuring the cocoa farmer is given enough support since, according to him,  the farmer is the fulcrum of the cocoa industry and to a larger extent, Ghana’s economy.

“Even though cocoa prices on the world market is down; government has maintained the farmer’s price at the same level,” he noted.

The COCOBOD boss chided purchasing clerks who adjust the scales to cheat the poor farmers.

He said it is common to have adjusted scales all over the country indicating that it ranges between 5 to 12 kilos across the country a situation he says he has personal experience with based on his field trips.

“If you are a true Christian or Muslim and you treat a poor farmer like that, what does your conscience tell you?” he quizzed.

Dr. Aidoo also revealed that government in its quest to confront some of the challenges bedevilling the cocoa industry has introduced some interventions.

The interventions include; hand pollination, irrigation and rehabilitation.

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Source: citifmonline.com