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Develop a single approach for cocoa certification
Accra, Oct. 22, Ghanadot/GNA - Mr. Fifi Kwetey, a Deputy
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Thursday called on
players in the cocoa industry to develop effective measures for
a single and harmonized approach to the cocoa certification
requirements.
"It is the hope of government that all companies in the cocoa
industry will consult adequately and come out with a single
harmonized approach so as not to burden the producing countries
with different certification requirement," he said.
Mr. Kwetey was speaking at the opening of the seventh Regional
Executive Committee of the Sustainable Tree Crops Programme (STCP)
meeting in Accra.
The STCP is an initiative aimed at introducing production,
marketing and institutional innovation in the cocoa sector to
improve the economic and social well being of tree crop farmers.
The project has the mandate to engage in public and private
partnership within the cocoa belt countries in West Africa to
identify the potential of cocoa in contributing to the rural
transformation.
About 50 representatives from countries including Ghana,
Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivore and Liberia are participating in
the two-day workshop to review the STCP strategies for closing
the yield gap between the farm and experimental stations.
The programme, organized by International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), a non-governmental organization, would also
discuss and evaluate cocoa certification requirements, marketing
system and it implication for industry.
Mr. Kwety said government was ready to help develop innovations
to enable farmers have easy access to finance in its quest to
boost cocoa production and to achieve the one million metric
tonnes of cocoa target in 2012.
He said government would soon roll out the cocoa "Hi-Tech"
program to assist and facilitate farmers' access to the use of
fertilizer and agro-pesticides.
"We reckon that efforts such as this as well as the cocoa
mass-spraying programme against mirids and black pod diseases in
the medium term would play a catalytic role to boost cocoa
production in the country", Mr Kwetey said.
Giving the overview of the project in Ghana, Mr Isaac K. Gyamfi,
Country Manager of STCP, said the capacity building workshop
organized by STCP on appropriate methods of cocoa production in
56 districts had helped to increase their cocoa yields to about
40 per cent.
He said the introduction of group sales, entrepreneurship
training and quality control had also resulted in about 15 per
cent higher farm-gate prices for farmers.
Mr. Gyamfi said STCP trained farmers through various methods
including Video Viewing Clubs and research with active
participation of farmers.
He said the phase two of the project would build the capacity of
farmers and personnel of the Extension Service of the Ministry
of Food and Agriculture on community organization development,
alternatives income opportunities for cocoa farmers, and policy
initiatives for a sustainable cocoa economy contributing to
rural transformation and growth.
GNA
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