The country has attained over one million metric tonnes of cocoa with ten weeks left until the end of the cocoa crop season.
Ghana
has produced the highest volume of cocoa beans in history, exceeding
over one million metric tonnes with over ten weeks left until the end of
the season, according to official data.
Data on the grading of beans by Quality Control Company of COCOBOD sighted by The Finder
shows that with just two weeks to go in the light crop season, the
board has recorded over one million (1,030,000) metric tonnes.
Even
though the season is not over, this will be the highest production
recorded in the country’s production history. This figure is expected to
be higher by the close of the season.
Before this new record,
the highest production of a little over one million (1,024,000) metric
tonnes was recorded in the 2010/11 season.
This is a fulfilment
of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) manifesto promise to push annual
cocoa output above one million metric tonnes when it takes power in
January 2017 under President Akufo-Addo, using a series of fresh
measures.
When contacted, the management of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will neither deny nor confirm the record-breaking achievement.
Government’s intervention
This ground-breaking record is largely attributed to intervention productivity enhancement programmes rolled out by the board.
The
programmes include national mass pruning, mass pollination and
fertiliser policy that ensures fertiliser is distributed through farmer
cooperatives
Also, the introduction of various agronomic
interventions by the government is helping to bring a tremendous
increase in crop yields per acre on cocoa farms.
Similarly, the
introduction of the mass pruning of cocoa farms, hand pollination, and
the right application of fertilisers to the tree crop, among other
things, aided the increase in production.
The new policies also
include re-tooling and deepening of the Cocoa Disease and Pest Control
Programme (CODAPEC); streamlining of the HI-TECH programme to ensure
equal access to fertilizers and other farm inputs; facilitating the
formation of cocoa farmer groups and cooperatives across the country,
which have seen more than 3,000 of them registered with the Department
of Co-operatives.
It also involves the introduction of motorized
weed slashers and pruners, also a new policy and the enhanced cocoa
rehabilitation programme.
The hand pollination had led to an
increase in the pods a single cocoa tree bears at a time, thus per the
COCOBOD’s estimation, a single tree could give a farmer almost 32 kilos
of cocoa, which is half of a bag.
All year round harvesting
Currently, the results from the pilot of cocoa cultivation under an irrigation system are promising.
Farmers in the Western North Region involved in the pilot are recording as high as 7,000 kilogrammes per acre.
Aside
from farmers achieving optimal yield under irrigation, they stand the
chance of harvesting throughout the year without thinking of expansion
that will contribute to deforestation.
Water is crucial for cocoa farming, and COCOBOD is focusing on pushing for cocoa production under irrigation for farmers.
US$600 million JICA, AfDB facility
The
irrigation pilot project is part of activities under the $600 million
syndicated loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and
the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the Enhanced Private Sector
Assistance for Africa initiative.
Initiatives under the facility
included the allocation of financing to sustainably increase cocoa plant
fertility and rehabilitate aged and disease-infected farms.
ISO certification
The
Quality Control Company (QCC), a subsidiary of the Ghana Cocoa Board
(COCOBOD), received certification for global quality and standards for
cocoa products from the country.
The ISO certification 17020 and
17025 was acquired through the support of the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
(UNIDO), and the Swiss government.
The new certification makes Ghana the only country in the region with such a level of accreditation.
The cocoa sector accounts for 4.5% of gross domestic products (GDP) and contributes 25% of Ghana’s merchandise export earnings.
Source: The Finder