Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo has inaugurated the Wassa Amenfi Cocoa Farmers Cooperative Union at Wassa Akropong in the Wassa Amenfi East District (WAEDA) of the Western Region.
The Union, which is made up of 815 registered individual cooperatives from 207 communities within the Wassa Akropong Cocoa District, has foundation membership of 52, 432 comprising 32,961 males and 19, 471 females.
Addressing the about 4,919 cooperative members, the CEO of COCOBOD congratulated the farmers for their resolve to form the Union.
He said the Union was in line with COCOBOD’s policy to encourage farmers to form cooperatives to easily access extension services and inputs to assist them in their cocoa farming.
He enlightened them on the Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme and urged cocoa farmers with infected farms to allow treatment to get rid of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus disease and at the same time get new farms through the support of COCOBOD to replace the dying farms.
Mr Aidoo also enlightened them on the Productivity Enhancement Programmes like mass pruning, hand pollination, mass spraying, pilot irrigation scheme and subsidised fertiliser supply to cocoa farmers.
He mentioned the Cocoa Management System Project and said it was to help COCOBOD and the Government to have a comprehensive and accurate database on cocoa farmers in the country to facilitate and enhance planning in the cocoa sub-sector to improve upon its business processes.
He therefore urged the cocoa farmers to register when the team gets to their communities to improve on the production.
Inducting the 11-member executives for a two-year term, he charged them to exhibit servant leadership skills and serve the interests of the members to increase their productivity per unit area to improve their economic fortunes.
He encouraged the cocoa farmers to keep faith with the NPP-Government as more farmer-friendly policies would be rolled out to enhance their livelihoods.
The Chairman of the Union, Nana K. Mortey, in his debut address, thanked the Management of Ghana COCOBOD for the innovative policies like mass pruning, hand pollination, and subsidised fertiliser policy among others, which are gradually yielding positive results and entreated them to sustain such well-thought-out interventions.
The Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area and President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II, who presided over the programme, advised the executives to be truthful and transparent in their activities to win the trust of members and to help them to achieve their objectives.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
