Name one of your policies that has increased cocoa production – Akufo-Addo dares Mahama

"President Mahama has managed to reach a production level of 1 million tonnes, yet by the end of his term he had fallen to barely 700,000 tonnes. Today, under my government, it has grown to 900,000 tons, and yet you (Mahama) offer false solidarity to cocoa farmers, shedding crocodile tears in front of cocoa farmers, and you did something to improve the lot of cocoa farmers. cocoa producers. These are crocodile tears, "said the president.

With the introduction of his government's policies, such as manual pollination, the mbad-size of cocoa trees using motorized secateurs, the early spraying of cocoa farms, motorized cutters to replace the new ones. use of machetes and driving irrigation systems for cocoa farms to ensure all year round. President Akufo-Addo challenged his predecessor.

"When the hon. J.B. Aidoo was speaking, he asked a policy of the previous NDC government to increase agricultural production and cocoa production. I want to hear what they will say to this challenge. We challenge them to tell us what they did to boost agricultural and cocoa production in Ghana. I can tell you the answer in advance: zero! Zero! Zero! "Stressed the president.

Regarding the road sector, President Akufo-Addo said: "Whenever I travel across the country, the first thing Ghanaians complain about is the state of their roads, even if you (Mahama) declare having repaired these same roads. If you (Mahama) really repair the roads, why are Ghanaians constantly complaining about the state of their roads? "

According to the president, the simple answer to this question is that "you (Mahama) did not tell the truth to the Ghanaians, you did not do the job you said you did. let's do the work, so give us space to do it instead of boasting lies. "

For his part, COCOBOD's director general said that the administration of President Akufo-Addo had spent the first two years of his mandate clearing the arrears inherited from the Mahama government. Indeed, he added that during the last 10 days of 2016, that is from December 20 to 31, 2016, when President Mahama learned that he had lost the # In the 2016 election, the $ 400 million in COCOBOD's account had been used.

"We took office and spent the first two years settling all the arrears inherited from the Mahama administration. The process of building cocoa roads is about to begin. The government has approved the payment of 3 billion GH ¢ for the construction of 350 cocoa production routes across the country. Secondary evacuation routes, that is, national roads, will also be built, "he added.

Although the former president claimed to be famous in the cocoa sector with the introduction of free fertilizers, the CEO of COCOBOD said that this policy had resulted in a reduction in Ghana's production capacity from 1 million tonnes in 2010/2011 to 740,000 metric tonnes. 2016, under the presidency of Mahama.

While Ivory Coast produced 1.1 million tonnes of cocoa in 2010, it increased cocoa production to 1.8 million tonnes, even though fertilizers are not distributed for free to their farmers.

"The free fertilizer policy has not helped Ghanaian farmers. When we took office in 2017, we revisited the old subsidized fertilizer policy of mbad cocoa spraying and introduced the manual pollination system, and in 2017/2018 we have produces 968,000 tons of cocoa, "Hon. J.B. Aidoo added.

The government, he added, has also reintroduced the policy abandoned by President Mahama in 2014 to support cocoa producers infected with the swollen shoot virus.

"The government is absorbing the absolute cost of farm rehabilitation – the cost of tree cutting, replanting and food planted on farms. COCOBOD maintains the farm for the first two years – the critical stages of the farm. In addition, for each hectare of cocoa infected with swollen shoot disease that has been eliminated, the producer receives 1,000 GH ¢. If the farmer is a sharecropper, the owner of the land also receives 1,000 GH ¢, he added.

The CEO of COCOBOD told cocoa farmers that, starting in the 2020/2021 season, every tonne of cocoa beans in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire sold on the international market will yield an additional USD 400, representing differential income for farmers.

The vital income differential of $ 400 million would be added to the price of the crop, of which 70% would be paid to the farmer on the farm.