The government currently buys one bag of cocoa beans from farmers at ₵515.00. Cocobod CEO Joseph Boahene Aidoo said since the cocoa sector was the backbone of Ghana’s economy they have taken "a bold decision that will protect the welfare of the 1.2 million cocoa farmers in Ghana".
According to local media sources, Boahen-Aidoo met with cocoa farmers as part of a working visit to Dunkwa-On-Offin and Wassa-Akropong districts in the south western cocoa-growing region of the country.
He called for farmers to expand their acreage and adopt sound cultural practices on farms to harvest at least 20 bags per 1 acre.
Boahen-Aidoo also told farmers that the government had sourced a $200m fund from the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in South Africa to deal with swollen shoot disease and other emergencies.
The Cocobod CEO also announced that the government has earmarked an incentive package “for farmers who observed sound cultural practices to increase productivity”.