Ghana is said to have lost about $1billion in cocoa revenue during the last six months.
This was as a result of the fall in global cocoa prices from $3000 a tonne to about $2000. Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which together produce about 60 per cent of world cocoa, have begun collaborating to find solutions to the challenges of the cocoa sector in these two countries.
Speaking to Class Business on the sidelines of the second meeting of the Ghana-Ivory Coast technical cooperation on cocoa, COCOBOD CEO Joseph Boahene Aidoo said the collaborations would help in ensuring that the two economies benefit more in the production of cocoa.
The two countries, according to Mr Aidoo, will be discussing “training systems, we are looking at marketing cocoa, we are looking at production, control of stock, even determination of producer prices”, adding: “This is because when prices fall in the international market, you find cocoa coming to Ghana because it is difficult to seal the borders completely and when prices are going up then you have cocoa moving from Ghana to Cote d’Ivoire and all these things don’t help. So if we are able to harmonise even our price determination for the farmers, we will be able to bring down or stem the tide of smuggling.”
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, was hopeful the meetings between the two countries would help find ways of processing cocoa for export.
Source: Classfmonline
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
How can a country continue to export cocoa in raw state despite the fact that exports in raw state of any raw material is impacted negatively due to price fluctuation and others. What is stopping Ghana's leaders to shift from the export of raw cocoa to something better if the world prices of the commodity continues to fall. The answer is simple. Ghanaian politicians and technocrats are lazy thinkers. They just go for anything they get from their trading partners without even negotiating. Secondly the little that they get in foreign exchange ends up in the pocket of private individuals. So the rob Peter and pay Paul mentality would never change. The continuous chase of the goose and blame Western partners for the plight of Africans is the norm. Since colonial times, Ghana still exports raw cocoa beans. What is wrong with this West African country. Its leaders are not visionaries. Its leaders are suffering from short-sightedness and corruption. The past and current form of politicians in Ghana have let the country down. There is no innovation, no manufacturing, no job creation and no employment for the youth probably with the exception of galamsey which have come under public scrutiny but the government of the day lacks the political will and capital to do something or anything about it. The country's politicians are managers who steal from the public purse. The country has no leaders let alone visionary leaders. Ghana needs a new crop of leaders to survive and grow. The electorate has a responsibility to start vetting people who show up for political positions. At least we can start from that point and move forward.