Combatting Cocoa Smuggling: Bryan Acheampong Reveals 80% Drop in Cocoa from Eastern Zone
Acheampong attributes the decline to purchasing of cocoa by unscrupulous merchants who have pitched camp in Ghana and who export the beans from bases in Togo
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has said that cocoa production from the eastern zone of Ghana has fallen by almost 80% because of smuggling.
Acheampong attributes the decline to purchasing of cocoa by unscrupulous merchants who have pitched camp in Togo to export the beans from there.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (12 September), Acheampong said the government will wage relentless war on these individuals in the coming days.
“You have some merchants that have come to camp here from Togo, and all they are doing is enticing the farmers to buy the cocoa beans at US$3,000. We [Ghana Cocoa Board] are paying US$1,800.
“Since they came to camp, the cocoa from the [sector] from Oti to Aflao – we call it the eastern zone of our country – has dropped by almost 80% in the main crop season,” Acheampong said.
“In the light crop season, which is June to when we opened the cocoa season in September, not a single bean has come from that zone …
“We have also put in a lot of investment and this year, those merchants will have to deal with me,” the minister said.
Source: Asaaseradio