Smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana have launched a central coordinating association in hopes to become a part of the decision-making processes in the cocoa sector, to ensure representation of their interest as key stakeholders in cocoa production.
The Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Association Limited (GCCFA), as they are known, comprises of 75 cooperative unions from nine cocoa-growing regions in Ghana.
Before the creation of the Association, cocoa farmers’ cooperative unions, each comprising of various cooperatives within a region, operated independently and in isolation, which made engagement at different decision-making levels within the cocoa value chain limited to only a few unions, primarily due to their fragmented and uncoordinated nature.
As a result, feedback often represented the views of individual unions, rather than capturing the collective interests of Ghana’s cocoa farming community.
Following a series of extensive training on leadership and governance for stakeholders at various levels, the Association was finally established in November 2024 with support from Solidaridad under its RECLAIM Sustainability Programme.
Funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the RECLAIM Sustainability Programme seeks to amplify the voices of farmers and workers in shaping public and private policies that promote decent working conditions, equitable access to natural resources, and fair value distribution across supply chains.
In a welcome address, the President of the Association, Mr Issifu Issaka, commented on the important role of the cocoa farmer in cocoa production yet had little to say in decision-making.
Mr. Issaka also noted how climate change is negatively impacting their work and called on the government to take steps to provide irrigation facilities to enhance cocoa production.
He expressed worry over the negative impacts of illegal mining on cocoa farming, adding that farmers were struggling to get quality water to spray their farms produce.
He also appealed to the government to increase the producer price for cocoa, to improve the income of farmers.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cocoa Board in charge of Quality Control, Dr Francis Baah, commended the leadership of the Association for coming together under one umbrella, saying that it would make engagements with cocoa farmers very easy and effective.
He said plans were underway to extend irrigation facilities to farms as part of long-term measures in addressing low productivity.
Meanwhile, the Country Representative, Solidaridad West Africa Mr Eric Agyare also indicated that his outfit will work closely with farmers and other actors to promote sustainable production of commodities including cocoa.
“We bring to the farmer best practices to support their businesses and beyond that we create arrangements where farmers are able to access inputs and services to improve productivity,” he added.
He said Solidaridad supported the establishment of the Association to improve governance to make them relevant in decision-making processes in the cocoa sector.
The expectation is to build their capacity to be able to engage relevant stakeholders in the cocoa value chain as key actors, Mr Agyare said.
Reporting by Stephen Freeman, Accra.
