Stay away from exploitative tendencies : Cocoa buying companies advised
Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) in the cocoa sector have been asked to stay away from exploitative tendencies in their operations that are a disadvantage to cocoa farmers.
Advertisement
The companies have also been urged to desist from the use of child labourers in the cocoa value chain since the practice denied children access to formal education.
The Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Operations at Ghana Cocobod, Mr James Kofi Kutsoati, made that call at the closing session of the Olam Ghana cocoa managers’ conference held in Accra last Wednesday.
The Olam Conference
The conference, which is held annually, was under the auspices of Olam Ghana Limited, a cocoa LBC, and drew participants from Olam’s cocoa producing regions including the Ashanti, Western and Brong Ahafo Regions.
It was on the theme, “Innovate and Optimise to Scale New Heights”.
The conference discussed, assessed and reviewed the company’s operations and made projections into the future.
Collaboration
Mr Kutsoati called on all stakeholders in the cocoa sector to collaborate and adopt best practices in order to address the myriad of challenges that confront the sector.
“LBCs have a duty to step up education of farmers on key issues, especially on the issue of climate change which has negatively affected cocoa output. Farmers ought to be educated on why trees must be replanted to replace aged ones as a means of sustaining productivity,” he added.
Compromised quality
The Executive Director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Dr. Anim Kwapong, observed that in spite of the pivotal role LBCs were playing to improve the cocoa sector, extreme competition existing among them was a recipe for accepting standards that are lower in quality.
“Some farmers harvest under riped pods without properly fermenting them or taking time to dry them well because LBCs exert pressure on them to sell their beans. Such practices in the long run cripple efforts by other stakeholders to improve the sector,” he said.
Support host communities
The Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Sampson K. Ahi, asked actors in land administration not to give out land to illegal miners since the practice was inimical to advancement in cocoa production.
“Productive parcels of farmland have been degraded, water bodies have been polluted with heavy metals. A degraded land or polluted water body needs a longer time and a lot of resources to be restored, and cocoa farmers will not get the expected yield. This practice must not be allowed to continue,” he stressed.
Mr Ahi called on LBCs to invest in education, health, and road infrastructure of host communities as part of their social responsibility.
He further urged them to initiate scholarship packages for children of farmers in the host communities because that would be a prudent way to end child labour and promote education in those communities.
Relevant theme
In solidarity messages, the President of the Licensed Cocoa Buyers Association of Ghana (LICOBAG), Mr Ayisi Botwe, and the Executive Secretary of Kuapa Kokoo, Mr Abrampah Mensah, said the theme for the conference was apt considering that the cocoa sector needed innovative ideas to thrive.
Mr Ayisi said it was important for LBCs to build human resource capacities of their enterprises as a means of enhancing their efficiency.
For his part, Mr Mensah said the influx of technology required that persons engaged in cocoa farming were abreast of innovative trends that promote environmentally safe production.