Brong Ahafo Women Cooperative Farmers and Marketing Central Women Union Limited (BAWCOF) has appealed to COCOBOD to facilitate petty loans to farmers to support their farming business.
The appeal was made during a meeting with the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Abbey at Duayaw-Nkwanta in the Tano North Municipality of Ahafo Region.
The president of BAWCOF, with over 7,129 women from 96 cooperatives in nine cocoa districts, Martha Addai, noted that “the Union cultivated 6,857.82 hectares of cocoa, producing approximately 8,000 bags of cocoa beans annually.”
Amid the challenges the industry is currently facing, BAWCOF assured COCOBOD of its support to regain their past glory.
A cocoa farmer at Duayaw-Nkwanta, Ms Paulina Terkyi Agyemang, also lamented over inadequate finance to acquire farm inputs and hire labourers and called for financial support to aid the farmers.
Ms Agyemang advised fellow farmers to embrace organic farming practices, such as using organic fertilisers, including animal droppings, as a climate-adaptation strategy to protect the environment and humans.
Meanwhile, COCOBOD CEO, Dr. Randy Abbey while commending the farmers for commitment to the sector disclosed that his outfit would drill mechanized boreholes in cocoa farms to aid in irrigation to counter hot temperatures emanating from climate change; a move aimed to mitigate the impact of climate change on cocoa farming in Ghana.
He advised the farmers against hoarding and smuggling of cocoa beans in anticipation of a higher price.
The CEO stated, “the 2025/2026 producer price of cocoa would be announced in August this year. Government intends to give farmers a price which will be bigger than what our neighbours, the Ivory Coast, would offer their farmers.”
