Dormaa-Ahenkro (B/R), Dec. 23, GNA – Mr Drissa Ouattara, the Dormaa Central Municipal Chief Executive has pledged the Assembly’s readiness to support cocoa farmers to boost productivity in the area.
He said the Assembly would support the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) with the required logistics as well for the ongoing implementation of the Productivity Enhancement Programme (PEP) and the Cocoa Pollination programme.
Addressing the end of year get-together organized by the CHED at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Bono Region, Mr Quattara appealed to farmers to embrace the PEP to increase cocoa productivity.
The hard-working staff of the CHED in the Municipality was awarded for their selfless services that had enhanced cocoa production in the area.
Mr Quattara said very soon an electronic scale initiative that allowed farmers to weigh and measure their cocoa beans appropriately would be introduced to prevent fraud.
Mr Eugene Agyemang, the Bono Regional Manager of COCOBOD, advised staff of the division to remain focused and be disciplined.
Mr Benjamin Adu-Bobbie, the Dormaa District Cocoa Officer, underlined the importance of honouring hard-working and deserving staff of the division to motivate them and others to do more.
“We have to recondition staff in a way that would enable them to affect the lives of farmers, thereby making impacts on extension activities”, he said.
Highlighting the activities of the district in 2022, Mr Adu-Bobie about 300 hectares of farmlands affected with swollen shoot disease would be destroyed, sustain the fight against child labour, strengthened cocoa management system operations (CMS) and improve collaboration with farmers and farmer cooperatives.
He said the district had impacted the socio-economic lives of cocoa farmers in the area, saying 1,000 out of 17,000 of the cocoa farmers had been supported to improve their farm yields.
GNA