Asunafo South Member of Parliament and National Democratic Congress agriculture spokesman Eric Opoku has voiced concern over the loss of more than 500,000 hectares of cocoa farms in Ghana as a result of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Viral Disease (CSSVD).
According to him, this setback results from the government’s improper execution of the Cocoa Rehabilitation Project (CRP).
The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) oversaw the Economic Recovery Program (ERP), which included the CRP, a government of Ghana initiative. In order to increase yields, the project planned to remove all unhealthy and unproductive cocoa trees and plant hybrid cocoa seedlings in their place.
On the other hand, Mr. Opoku claimed that the program had not been executed well and that the funds allocated for it had not been used effectively on Eyewitness News on Citi FM.
“I find it difficult to understand the 500,000 hectares that the Chief Executive is referring to because, in October 2020, at the launch of the President’s cocoa rehabilitation program in Sehwi Wiawso, he mentioned that a survey had been carried out by COCOBOD covering the years 2006 to 2017, and the results showed that the disease known as cocoa swollen shoot disease had affected 17% of all farmlands used for cocoa production.
Additionally, it was estimated that 1.9 million hectares of farmland were used to produce cocoa. Thus, we are discussing 17%. We needed to take quick action because this was concerning, which is why Ghana had to borrow $600 million to replant cocoa. Therefore, it surprises me that the illness is killing as many as 500,000 people today—more than 25%.
“The program hasn’t been executed correctly. We need to critically examine the issues,” he said.
