Chief Cocoa farmer in Huni Valley in the Western Region, Nana Boakye has projected that the country’s cocoa-growing ability will reduce drastically if measures are not put in place to make cocoa farming attractive to the youth.
Including himself, most cocoa farmers have asserted that they will not allow their children to venture into cocoa farming whilst some of the children themselves upon seeing the suffering of their parents, have shied away from growing the cash crop.
To him, this will happen in 10 years if the government does not put in place a strategic plan to increase tonnage in the cocoa sector and also make the venture more attractive to farmers.
According to him, children of cocoa farmers have witnessed their parents toil for nothing and comparing other jobs to farming, they would rather do the former than engage in the latter.
“I have 9 kids and none of them are getting involved in farming. They have seen the work I do and noticed my hard work doesn’t match up to the benefits I enjoy. They are all pursuing academics and other businesses and not cocoa farming.”
With his kids pursuing other careers, Nana Boakye fears his kids will sell his 42-acre cocoa farm upon his demise if cocoa farmers do not benefit from their labour. “None of my kids wants to venture into cocoa farming and on the very day I die, my kids will sell my land and that is the case with other cocoa farmers as well.”
He made this prediction in an interview with Happy98.9FM’s Don Kwabena Prah on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show.
The chief farmer proposing a solution to this possible collapse of Ghana’s cocoa sector said, “to make cocoa farming attractive, we need to look at the pricing of cocoa and make sure farming inputs and support from the government is consistent and timely.”
He also believes intensive education, development in cocoa-growing regions and the provision of social amenities will also make the younger generation cherish cocoa farming. “This is what we need if we want to succeed as a cocoa-growing country.”
Stories on the plight of rural cocoa farmers have been shared on Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political show as part of a series dubbed, “Ghana’s Cocoa Sector, ‘The Inside Story’. This was prompted by the revelation of China actively participating in the growing of cocoa.
