Cocoa farmers divided over controversial COCOBOD Bill

A new Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Bill has sharply divided cocoa farmers across the country, with distinct opinions emerging from the Ashanti and Western Regions. While some farmers welcome the legislation, others are strongly opposing its provisions, particularly a clause requiring prior approval for the destruction or uprooting of cocoa trees.

This specific provision is designed to protect cocoa farms from being converted to other uses. Farmers in areas like Juaben, Asiwa, Juaso, and Konongo in the Ashanti Region voiced their support at a COCOBOD-organized sensitization rally. Officials, including Dr. Richard Adu Acheampong and Mr. Benjamin Teye Larweh, explained that the bill covers farmer welfare, producer pricing, farm protection, anti-smuggling, sector financing, and the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme. They clarified that the bill does not prevent farmers from growing compatible food crops alongside cocoa or transferring land ownership to COCOBOD.

However, farmers in the Western Region, particularly in Prestea-Huni Valley and Wassa Amenfi West, have voiced strong opposition. Nana Thomas Boakye, Chief Cocoa Farmer for Prestea-Huni Valley, argued that the requirement for approval to remove trees could create difficulties for farmers needing to cut down diseased, old, or unproductive trees. He also believes farmers should have the autonomy to decide when to replace cocoa with other crops if it improves their livelihoods.

Nana Boakye urged President Mahama not to assent to the bill, stating that farmers need incentives and better prices, not more restrictions. He highlighted a significant issue: an aging farmer population and a declining interest among youth in cocoa farming, partly due to the greater attractiveness of illegal mining. "The passion for cocoa farming is gone," he lamented, stressing the need to make the sector appealing to younger generations.

Adding to the dissent, the Chief of Pieso, Nana Kwamina Badu II, criticized the perceived lack of adequate consultation with farmers before the bill's passage. While acknowledging the bill's aim to prevent farm conversion for mining, he suggested it needs to be supported by other measures to truly benefit farmers.

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The solutions and a lot of the answers to helping our young people are our young people themselves.