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National Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP),Dr. Richard Ahiagbah has called on Ghanaians especially cocoa farmers to disregard the poor comment on the new cocoa price by the National Democratic Party (NDC) because Ghana’s new producer price of cocoa is the highest in 50 years among the West African sub-regional cocoa-producing countries.
According to him, Ghana’s new producer price of cocoa will increase farmers income, serve as a Motivation for Cocoa Farming, create jobs, increase economic growth, Stimulate increase in National Output, and also create Positive Image for Ghana, being able to offer the highest producer price in 50 years enhances Ghana’s reputation in the global cocoa industry and leads to more favorable trade relationships and partnerships.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra, Dr. Richard Ahiagbah stressed that it is highly disingenuous on the part of the NDC to blame the current administration for a decline in cocoa production when they know that they contributed to the unfortunate situation.
He therefore said that is worth noting that under this NPP administration, Ghana recorded its highest-ever production of one million and forty-five thousand five hundred metric tonnes (1,045,500) in the 2020/21 Crop Season. It is, therefore, not accurate when the NDC claims that the NPP have a poor track record in cocoa production.
He however mentioned that In the 2019/2020 Crop year, the Governments of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire agreed on a new cocoa pricing mechanism to safeguard the welfare of cocoa farmers.
This collaboration led to the adoption of the Living Income Differential (LID) mechanism, which comes with an extra amount of $400 for every tonne of cocoa. The LID has since narrowed the unfair wealth distribution within the cocoa value chain in the two countries.
STORY by Charles Mensah Nyamedi
