Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has announced plans of the government to reintroduce free fertilizers for cocoa farmers under the Feed the Industry Programme to be launched soon by her outfit. She said, the feed the industry programme is aimed at encouraging people to engage in commercial farming. The programme is a pledge of the Mahama-led administration to boost agricultural production which includes revitalising Ghana’s cocoa sector that would also see distribution of improved seedlings, and other agro-inputs in addition to the planned reintroduction of free fertilizers.

Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare (MP, Techiman North) made the announcement in a commemorative statement in Parliament to mark National Chocolate Day an occasion which coincides with Valentine’s Day on February 14th but with emphasis on the consumption of Ghana-made chocolate from cocoa produced in the country. The Minister also underscored the government’s commitment to “stopping illegal mining” which has forced many cocoa farmers in hard hit areas into oblivion. The illegal mining menace, popularly known as “galamsay”, has become an albatross that adversely impacts cocoa production in Ghana. According to National Geographic, the drop in cocoa production started in 2015 by 740,000 tonnes from a ‘record-setting’ amount of over one million tonnes in 2011 as galamsay activities gained momentum.

“As committed in our Manifesto, the plan includes reintroducing free fertilizers, improved seedlings, and agro-inputs to boost yields, restoring efficient management of COCOBOD, and prioritizing investment in cocoa production over administrative costs. It also aims to combat illegal mining on cocoa farms, ensure timely funding to prevent smuggling, and promote organic fertilizers.”, She noted

The free distribution of fertilizers to cocoa farmers under the first administration of President John Dramani Mahama in 2014 saw over 1.6 million bags of inorganic fertilizer, 220,000 bags of organic fertilizer and 1.7 million litres of foliar fertilizer given to farmers. However, during the 2016 electioneering campaign, the free distribution was stepped up with 2.5 million bags of granular and 1.4 million litres of liquid or foliar fertilizer respectively. Some cocoa farmers complained the fertilizers did not “reach the intended targets” as this report suggested a hijack of the distribution chain by local powerbrokers who were said to have diverted the fertilizers despite a taskforce being in place at the time. The free fertilizer programme was replaced with a subsidy programme in 2017 by the Nana Akufo-Addo administration. According to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) the Subsidized Fertilizer Programme was introduced “following evidence of widespread theft, nepotism, favouritism diversion and smuggling” which characterized the free fertilizer programme.

The minister was optimistic in the government’s ability in ensuring that cocoa production goes up; find money and time to buy cocoa from the farmers in order to prevent smuggling while promoting sustainable livelihood. She therefore called on corporate entities to invest in value addition and value extension in the cocoa production chain rather than just exporting the cocoa beans raw.

“The more we consume Made In Ghana chocolates, the more employment we create. In the value chain, there are a lot of people: the farmers, the processors, the marketers, and then all those in the value chain for the more we patronise these made in Ghana chocolates, the better it is for us as a country. We are excited that the government of Ghana, under his Excellency John Dramani Mahama, is also poised in ensuring that cocoa production goes up. He’s interested in ensuring that free fertilizers come back. He’s ensuring that he finds money or time to purchase our cocoa, so that we avoid smuggling. He’s interested in giving good cocoa prices so that farmers are sustained in what they are doing, also to reduce child labour.”, She said