By Dennis Peprah
Tweredua (B/R), Sept. 27, GNA – The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) has advised cocoa farmers to adhere to good agricultural practices to enhance production for quality yields because of the government’s increase of price of the crop.
As an international membership organisation, the WFC promotes sustainability in the cocoa sector by providing cocoa farmers with the support they need to grow more quality cocoa and strengthen their communities as well.
Madam Baaba Wood, the Country Relations Manager, WCF gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Tweredua, a cocoa growing community in the Sunyani Municipality.
The government has increased the price for a bag of cocoa from GHS800.00 per 64 kilogramme (kg) to GHS1,308.00 and that 63.5 per cent increment also translated to GHS20,943,00 per tonne of raw cocoa beans, up from GHS 12,800.00 per tonne.
Mad. Wood, who was in the community to attend a graduation ceremony organised by CARE International, another NGO said the government was doing better in the cocoa sector and asked the cocoa farmers to take advantage of its interventions to produce quality beans.
She lauded the new increment in the price of the commodity as announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying it would not only inspire farmers to do more, but also better their socio-economic lives.
In another interview, Nana Kwaku Agyabeng, the Chief of Tweredua expressed appreciation to President Akufo-Addo for the new cocoa price, and the introduction of other cocoa intervention programmes in the country.
He said the cocoa farmers in the area would forever be grateful to the government for the on-going construction of the Tweredua-Wamfie road, whereby portions had already been asphalted and expressed the hope the asphaltic work would reach the Tweredua community.
Nana Agyabeng expressed concern about the rise in youth unemployment in the area, saying the youth were ready to go into cocoa farming and appealed to the government to support them with farm inputs, seeds, and other planning.
He said the Tweredua community had been lagging in development despite its contributions to the cocoa industry and national food security, saying the community required toilets, market, lorry station and durbar ground too.
Nana Agyabeng said the community again needed a health centre urgently to address the health needs of the rising population of more than 9,000, excluding inhabitants within the 18 surrounding villages and hamlets.
GNA