Ghana’s economy has since time immemorial been largely dependent on agriculture. Cocoa production for that matter has always been a key driver of agriculture’s contribution to the socio-economic development of Ghana.
In recent times, matters involving cocoa production have not been so pleasant for industry players (both farmers and processors) — thus adversely affecting fortunes of the once-vibrant and lucrative sector.
There are so many theories surrounding the current situation of the cocoa sector. Most of these stories have connotative partisan political meanings. Opposition parties’ activists sometimes exaggerate the situation for political gain, while government functionaries also paint a beautiful but sometimes deceptive picture about the situation to protect the goodwill of government’s agricultural policies.
Whatever the scenario might be, the truth of the matter is there are some undeniable challenges out there crying for attention if we really want to improve the fortunes of cocoa production in the country.
Ghana is the second-highest producer of cocoa in the world after La Cote d’Ivoire. Though the two neighboring countries cultivate almost the same farmland size of about 1.7 million hectares, the production level of the latter is around 1.6 million metric tonnes (mt) per annum while Ghana in the 2014/15 crop season produced a little over 700,000 mt. Ghana achieved its historic peak production of one million mt during the 2010/2011 season.
One would have wished Ghana to maintain that feat achieved in the 2010/2011 crop season. However, this has not been the case; there has been a decline in the commodity’s output figures to below 900,000mt in subsequent years. Unfortunately, the country can now barely produce half of Cote d’Ivoire’s output. The 2014/2015 production of about 700,000mt is said to be one of the lowest in the last decade.
The Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), a largely state-owned processing plant, in the 2014/2015 crop year had to import 15,500 metric tonnes of light crop cocoa beans from Côte d’ Ivoire to stay afloat. The seemingly unabating troubles of CPC pushed management to shut down two of its processing plants. The critical issue here is not whether there has been a precedent of importing cocoa beans for processing or not.
The worry is how to dispassionately explain why a processing company in a net exporter of cocoa has to import the same commodity for production, especially at this critical moment when managers of the economy are grappling to tame the free-fall of the cedi, largely caused by trade imbalances.
I believe the substantive issue should not be whether this was the first time Ghana or not, as that has been the subject matter of discourse in some media circles. What is supposed to be the matter of concern here is how Ghana as a country has failed to produce enough cocoa beans. This development is an obvious indicator that all is not well with cocoa production in the country.
The multimillion dollar question is: “What has the various stakeholders failed to do right, and what can we do to turn things around?” Obviously, one does not need rocket science to understand the institutional and policy failures that have triggered the nose-diving of cocoa production and its rippling effects.
Ghana in the 2010/2011 crop season recorded the historic production level of one million metric tonnes on the premise of continuous massive investments in the shape of inputs into the sector, and effective implementation of relevant policies.
Free mass-spraying of cocoa trees, distribution of subsidised fertiliser and vigorous extension services among others did the magic for Ghana; but very little can be said about the effectiveness of these interventions in present-day Ghana.
A visit to some farming communities revealed a better understanding of the plethora of challenges crippling cocoa production in the country. Many of the challenges have been rife for quite a long time, and until they are fixed the country might not see any bright future for the all-important cocoa sector to help transform Ghana’s fragile economy.
In the Sefwi-Akontombra district of the Western Region — a cocoa growing hub in the country — farmers have raised the issue of increasing soil infertility as a worrying trend affecting production of the crop. The phenomenon is believed to be partly caused by the inadvertent excessive use of substandard and fake agrochemicals on the farmlands. The spokesperson of the farmers, Seth Addae, in an interview said: “It appears we are losing the fight against soil infertility; the problem is growing bigger and bigger.
“Due to the situation, we have been recording declining levels of production for about five years now. Most of our cocoa trees here are also aging; they are left with few years to exhaust their economic life-expectancy usefulness. We need massive fertiliser application, chemical spraying to control diseases, and planting new seedlings to replace the aged cocoa trees,” he said.
One can easily see that government intervention programmes such as the mass-spraying, distribution of subsidised fertiliser and other inputs — as well as free distribution of improved cocoa seedlings — should have been solutions to the farmers’ worries, but it will surprise you to learn there are twists in implementation of the aforementioned programmes which defeat the intentions behind their institutionalisation.
When asked if they [farmers] have made any effort to enjoy the fruit of government’s cocoa intervention programmes, Mr. Addae replied: “Boss, don’t be deceived by the big English the politicians have been telling you in the cities about support to cocoa farmers. Mass cocoa-spraying is now a thing of the past for some of us; the chemicals get dried up in the hands of supervisors, and the little that are released to the sprayers, a farmer has to pay money before they will spray your farm.
“There is a political cartel that deals with subsidised fertilisers and the hybrid seedlings. They end up diverting the fertilisers to their shops or sell to their cronies in the business. Farmers then have to buy at exorbitant price. The seedlings are given to people based on their political affiliation. If your party is in power, halleluiah for you; this has been the practice for years,” he revealed.
The situation, he lamented, affects the drive of farmers who are not well-known political activists to expand or replace old cocoa trees, adding: “The inputs sometimes end up in the hands of famers who don’t need them most; or people who lack the capacity to develop their farms”.
A 45-year old farmer at Tepa in the Ashanti Region, Sulley Mustafa, shared similar story. “I have been making frantic efforts to expand my farm by 17 acres. I contacted the officers in charge of distributing the free seedlings on several occasions, but they were tossing me here and there and I never received a single seedling. I had to resort to planting collected seeds from my farm, an age-old farming practice popularly known as atodwe”. On the issue of subsidised fertilisers and other agro inputs, he stated: “The least said about that the better”.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has recently announced an increment in the free distribution of cocoa seedlings from 50 million to 60 million across the country at a huge cost. In recent years, government has also been struggling to easily enter into partnerships with fertiliser distributing companies for onward supply to farmers at very competitive prices, due to financial constraints. After government toils to secure some inputs, primarily meant to boost the production of the crop, some unscrupulous individuals take undue advantage of the system to enrich themselves at the expense of the nation’s interest.
Occasionally, we hear of some arrests regarding people have stolen or diverted subsidised inputs, but little do we hear as to the aftermath of the arrests. Diseases are violently killing cocoa trees, and the mass-spraying exercise should have been the antidote for that problem. However, the six-times praying exercise in year has been reduced to two. Even with the two, corruption has also crippled it, as only those who can afford to pay bribes benefit from it. The practice is fuelling the dwindling low yield of cocoa. It is my fervent prayer that managers of these distribution exercises will diligently give out to deserving farmers to help revive production.
One other problem taking a toll on cocoa production in the country is destruction of cocoa farms by the activities of illegal miners. The issue is rampant in all the cocoa-growing areas, especially in Ashanti, Western, Eastern, Central and Brong Ahafo Regions. Illegal miners are ravaging cocoa farms with impunity.
The cocoa sector has not only lost farmlands to illegal mining, but its labour force as well. Hitherto, it was common knowledge that a large number of people from the northern part of the country trooped to cocoa growing communities to find jobs in the sector; but the trend has changed. Many of those who have relocated to these areas have now pitched camp with illegal mining, also known as ‘galamsey’, which fetches them more money.
Cocoa farming, like all other subsectors of agriculture, is sweating over an aging labour force; many cocoa farmers would have be on retirement if they were to be public service employees. The sector has lost its attractiveness to entice the youth into taking cocoa farming as a business, hence the existing and potential workforce diverting into other ‘lucrative enterprises’ like galamsey among others.
Ahafo communities including Kenyasi, Ntotroso, Hwidiem, Gyedu and Nkaseim play host to many settlers, mostly from the northern zone of Ghana. Cocoa farming used to be the magnetic force that attracted people to these areas, but the table has turned in favour of illegal mining. Galamsey is now the new industry in that part of the region, employing men, women and even schoolchildren. Farmers have abandoned their cutlasses for pick-axes and shovels in search of gold in an adventurous fashion.
The Asutifi North District Chief Farmer, John Amakwaa in an interview raised alarm over the new trend in the area. “Because of the cocoa sector’s unattractiveness, we have lost most of our helping labourers to illegal mining; our children have also joined them, leaving the old men and women working on the cocoa farms”.
Per visible happenings in the sector’s labour division, the long-term sustainability of the cocoa supply chain is really under threat. The issue of aging farmers, youth hesitancy to embrace farming, and the mass desertion to illegal mining must be issues of concern to all if we truly want to salvage the ‘troubled’ cocoa sector. It has become obvious that making the sector more lucrative by offering the necessary support and incentives will attract more people into it and retain them, especially the youth.
Smuggling cocoa beans to La Cote d’Ivoire remains another bane to production in the country. Illegal trade of cocoa has alwaysattracted public attention, but state actors have not been able to stem the practice as it is still thriving in the border communities. In finding a lasting solution to the canker, the onus is on authorities to address the contributory factors. Delayed payment to farmers by purchasing clerks, huge disparity between Ghana and Ivorian prices, and depreciation of the cedi have been identified as the main factors.
With the fluctuation/decline of oil prices on the international commodity market, thereby affecting revenue projections from the oil sector, it would serve the country’s interests if the economy’s managers paid due attention to the cocoa sector. A vibrant cocoa sector will create more jobs along its value supply chain and boost Ghana’s revenue basket.
There is a popular quote that states: “Many countries have experienced significant growth over the past decade or two, but it has not always been accompanied by commensurate poverty reduction — especially where the growth has been driven by sectors other than agriculture. Growth in agriculture usually generates the greatest improvements for the poorest people — and particularly in the poorest, most agriculture-based economies”.
