Zero Borrowing Arrangement Makes Cocoa Sector More Sustainable COCOBOD CEO

The  Chief Execushy;tive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COshy;COBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, says the decision to finance cocoa purchases for the 2024/2025 crop season through zero borrowing arrangement formed part of the govshy;ernment’s plan to make the sector more viable and sustainable.

He explained that the zero borrowing arrangement marked a major shift from the existing sysshy;tem of financing cocoa purchases over the years through loans from external sources, and constitutshy;ed a new financing innovation designed to decrease the cost of borrowing to the board.

Taking his turn at the bi-weekly Minister’s Briefing organised by the Ministry of Information in  Accra yesterday, Mr Aidoo said under the new zero financing arrangement, international buyers would pay directly into the Cocoa Marketing organization’s account on behalf of COCOBOD.

This he explained effectively eliminates the previous arrangeshy;ment where funds were raised overseas through syndicated loans, which had become increasingly expensive.

“The financing arrangement beshy;ing pursued now is a homegrown model, and so far, so good,” he emphasised.

Furthermore, he said, “We are unburdened with any interest and ancillary costs, which significantly reduces the financial pressure on the industry.”

The CEO said COCOBOD had within the last few years undertaken a number of measures to enhance the cocoa sector while adopting a lot more innovation in its operations.

These innovations, he said included innovations in cocoa farming productivity enhancement practices and hand-pollination.

He said the sector had achieved a lot in cocoa productivity and this had mainly been driven by innovative tactics introduced under the current administration.

Mr Aidoo said the Productivity Enhancement Programme (PEP) was one such innovation which had transformed cocoa yields across the country.

“Before this administration, only five per cent of farmers pracshy;tised pruning, despite its known benefits. Today, pruning has become a standard practice, inshy;creasing productivity from 450 kg per hectare in 2016 to the current 800 kg per hectare,” he said.

He said pruning apart from improving airflow, and sunlight exposure, had also enhanced overall tree health, leading to betshy;ter flower development and pod formation while reducing pest and disease spread.

As a result of this intervenshy;tion, he said some farmers had increased their yields to as high as 6.7 tonnes per hectare, stressing that “A feat once thought imposshy;sible in Ghana.”

“We now have farmers proshy;ducing up to 1,000 fruits per tree, with some even registering over 3,000 fruits through hand pollishy;nation in the Western Region,” he emphasised.

Mr Aidoo said hand-pollination had become a game-changer for cocoa productivity in the country, becoming a major breakthrough marking another significant breakshy;through compensating for the natshy;ural shortage of insect pollinators in cocoa farms.

He explained that the intershy;vention began in 2018 with the deployment of 10,000 trained youth to teach farmers the techshy;nique, however, it had now been expanded to include 30,000 farm crews across Ghana.

“Hand pollination has enabled farmers to push their producshy;tivity to new heights, with some achieving 4,000 kg per hectare. The initiative has also created jobs for thousands of young people in rural areas,” he said.

Furthermore, he said digitalisashy;tion and sustainability had been embraced as part of measures to modernise the sector.

Mr Aidoo said COCOBOD had put in place a comprehenshy;sive integrated farmer database which aligned with international sustainability protocols, including the European Union’s Deforestashy;tion-Free Regulation.Ghanaian Times