A letter from the Ghana Cocoa Board, sighted by Ghana Education News on Twitter, shows that Ghana is now buying cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria under this government.
The tweet shared the official letter from the Cocoa Board and captioned it.
“Bombshell: Ghana is now buying cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria under this government. We are buying 3500 metric tonnes from them in a letter dated January 25, 2024.
However, this administration, under the direction of Dr. Afriyie Akoto, informed us in 2022 that they had doubled our cocoa production.
The letter dated January 25, 2024, with the heading “Re-Importation of Cocoa Beans from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria” has caused a lot of worry among Ghanaians. The chief executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Hon. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, signed the letter approving the purchase.
A total of 2500 metric tonnes of cocoa are to be procured from Cote d’Ivoire, and another 1000 metric tonnes from Nigeria.
The letter further stipulated that the consignments from both countries should travel by sea and through the Tema port.It was further requested that the suppliers provide the name of the vessel, shipment schedule, and quantity of beans to be imported, and indicate if the shipment will be in bulk or not.
The question on the minds of Ghanaians is what happened to the famous planting for food and jobs policy of the government and why Ghana should import cocoa from these two countries.
However, many have argued that cocoa farms in Ghana have become Galmasey pits, hence the need to import cocoa with approval from the Cocoa Board.
Roads to cocoa-growing areas continue to be underdeveloped, and the dangers posed by Galamsey even make cash crop farms vulnerable in Ghana.
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are by far the two largest cocoa-growing countries and produce up to 60% of the world’s cocoa, followed by Ecuador with 9% yet Ghana is now important cocoa.
Lawyer, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Former President John Dramini Mahama’s special aid has reacted to the letter on her Twitter account and stated that “Ghana now reduced to importing cocoa beans under this inept administration! My brothers and sisters, this is where Bawumia and Akufo Addo have brought us…”
What is the 2023/2024 cocoa producer price in Ghana?
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