• Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo — Chief Executive of COCOBOD The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is on track to meet the 50 per cent local processing target of cocoa beans produced in the country, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has said.
He said the country was currently processing about 40 per cent of cocoa beans locally and was, therefore, confident of meeting the 50 per cent target soon.
At the launch of the National Chocolate Week, he said the chocolate week celebrations was part of a bigger drive by the board to promote local processing of cocoa to boost cocoa consumption among Ghanaians.
He said COCOBOD was determined to strengthen its incentive packages to help local processors and artisanal chocolate makers expand their businesses.
“The incentives will ensure that the processors are able to access more beans and produce more chocolates and other cocoa products for the consuming public,” he said.
The government in 2017 announced an ambitious plan to increase cocoa production to one million metric tonnes (MT) as it improves the local processing of the beans to 50 per cent.
The country already has seven major cocoa processing firms and with an estimated processing capacity of about 500,000 mt, with the construction of a new 50,000 capacity processing factory in the Western Region currently ongoing.
The new factory, when completed, will increase the capacity to about 550,000 which puts them in a position to meet the government’s 50 per cent processing target.
Appreciation to farmers The CEO also expressed the board’s appreciation to cocoa farmers for their continuous support of the industry. He said the farmers played an invaluable role in the cocoa value chain and must, therefore, be commended.
“We have great support from our cocoa farmers and other stakeholders within the cocoa value chain and I will like to seize this opportunity to commend our illustrious farmers in particular for their efforts at producing the best quality cocoa for the confectionery market the world over,” he said.
Role of cocoa The Minister-designate for Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who launched the chocolate week on behalf of the Vice-President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, said cocoa and chocolate played an integral role in the lives of Ghanaians and the economy as a whole.He said every Ghanaian, in one way or the other, derived benefit from cocoa.“From foreign exchange earning to employment, food and beverages, cosmetics to the provision of social and infrastructural […]