Officials at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) are failing to work to expectation, Nana Oboadie Opambuor Boateng II, President of the Concerned Cocoa Farmers Association, has said.
According to him, the failure of these officials to work in the interest of farmers, has resulted in some of the problems confronting the sector.
His comments follow reports that Japan has rejected Ghana's cocoa because of the over-use of chemicals in nurturing the crop.
The Chronicle newspaper reported that Ghana’s cocoa does not meet the standards set by the Japanese Food Sanitation Law.
According to the report, cocoa from the West African country were quarantined due to their health implications.
Nana Opambuor Boateng II, commenting on this development on Ghana Yensom show Accra100.5FM hosted by Chief Jerry Forson on Wednesday January 24, said some of these problems should be blamed on the officials at COCOBOD.
“Officials of the COCOBOD are sleeping on the job and that is very disturbing; this problem should be blamed on the COCOBOD officials,” he said.
“For example, as we speak, they are cutting down cocoa trees but the government says it wants to improve on the yields. How can you improve on the yield at a time you are cutting down the trees for no reasons?
“Going forward, I think we need a policy or a law that will guide COCOBOD when they decide to cut down cocoa trees.”
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