Nana Oboadie Opambour Bonsu II, has called for a dialogue among the stakeholders to ensure prices of Cocoa are stabilized through introduction of deregulation of cocoa.
According to Nana Oboadie Opambour Boateng II, the current situation where government regulate prices in every cocoa season was not the best because the government would have to virtually increase the prices, a system he believes was draining the covers of the state. He says the government through the COCOBOD should engage the farmers of the policy of the deregulation of the cocoa pricing so that they would buy into the programme and support its implementation.
Price deregulation explained as the removal of government regulations or restrictions in a particular market, industry, or economy, intended to create more competition within an industry has been regulatory factor in the regulation of fuel products in the country for the decades..
Speaking to OWIATV, Nana Oboadie Opambour Boateng II said pricing of the cocoa in the country was always determined with the dollar rates adding that the government management of the forex had adverse effects on the cocoa pricing.
Earleir reports from OWIA NEWS investigations say, cocoa farmers in some parts of the Ashanti region are threatening to cut down their cocoa trees and explore alternative livelihoods due to the government’s delay in paying their arrears. Farmers in Offinso, Namong Wenchi, and Afigya Kwabre North are particularly affected, with some owed for several months.
The delay has taken a toll on the farmers’ livelihoods, with some reporting that their families are struggling to make ends meet. “Our wives are now depending on their parents because we don’t have money,” one farmer lamented. Some farmers are considering switching to rice farming or aquaculture due to the uncertainty surrounding cocoa production.
But Nana Oboadie Opambour Boateng II maintained that the only solution to the current cocoa pricing and lack of funds to pay farmers was to introduce deregulation into the sector so that the issue would be resolved once and for all.
Source: Benedict Asante-Yeboah
