There is a saying that “Ghana is cocoa, cocoa is Ghana”.
To the Ghanaian, cocoa is more than a simple crop because apart from its economic value, it forms part of the national identity and the country’s social history.
Therefore, any circumstance that negatively affects cocoa growth and production must be dealt with head-on and those coming in as support encouraged with all strength.
This is why the Ghanaian Times is worried about the news that Ghana lost 150,000 tonnes of cocoa beans last year due to activities of smugglers.
Besides smuggling due to the lowest price of the commodity in cocoa-producing countries, there are other challenges like the outbreak of El Niño disease; destruction of cocoa farms by perpetrators of galamsey; disinterest of young people in cultivating cocoa, leaving the average age of cocoa farmers at 55 years; and the cheating by cocoa-purchasing clerks.
Luckily, all these problems are bare to the authorities and so all one expects is the move to resolve them and such a move must enjoy all seriousness.
We are happy to hear, for instance, that the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has established a taskforce, including personnel of the National Security, to undertake regular operations to arrest the perpetrators of cocoa smuggling and retrieve the product.
We support this initiative and hope since smuggling is a crime, the perpetrators would be prosecuted in addition.
However, if we want to be fair, the whole nation must interrogate why the COCOBOD has not been able to resolve the producer price variations in which case the price is significantly low in Ghana and thus motivates the continuous smuggling of cocoa to neighbouring countries.
Besides, why has Ghana persisted in forward-sales of cocoa which allows the Board to sell off 60 to 65 per cent of cocoa produce as syndication at a significantly lower price before it is harvested?
Is it because of the syndicated loans the country yearly contracts to buy cocoa?
Some of us think it is about time the country weaned itself of that practice which lends itself to various interpretations.
Can the COCOBOD emulate the example of La Côte d’Ivoire, in which case it will sell on the spot, a situation which gives farmers the opportunity to demand higher sales for their produce?
We have no qualms about Ghana having developed a new producer price which will be implemented in the new crop season to guarantee higher prices for cocoa beans.
However, the question is, will the new price be enough to discourage the urge to smuggle the produce?
We believe all the challenges causing the dwindling tonnage of cocoa produced in the country can be dealt with and they should be.
We are happy with the gains the country has made in the gold sector, for example, but sad that the mineral has replaced cocoa as the leading foreign exchange earner.
We think, considering the larger national good, the cocoa industry must be boosted above gold because it employs more citizens as it serves as a major source of living for most people in Ghana, particularly in the rural areas.
