Ghana recorded a notable production of 1,045,000 tons of cocoa in the 2021/22 crop season, Mr Joseph Boahin Aidoo, the CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has said.
He said the nation's normal cocoa production had now expanded from 450 kilograms for every hectare (kg/ha) in 2017 to a great 800 kg/ha.
Portraying it as remarkable, Mr Aidoo said the achievement were a direct result of the implementation of different excellent mediations and drives by the government.
A part of the initiatives incorporated the Cocoa Rehabilitation Program which stood out as a vital response to the staggering effect of the cocoa enlarged shoot virus disease(CSSVD) that had tormented the industry.
Mr Aidoo spread the word about this at the celebration of the 2024 yearly festival of the 'Brong-Ahafo' Women Co-operative Farmers and Marketing Central Union(BAWCOF) festival 2024, held at Goaso, in the Ahafo Region.
It was on the theme "Growing a gender- equal future: Empowering women and youth in agriculture," and united around 7,000 of the Union attracted from 96 social orders nine cocoa district in the Bono and Ahafo Regions.
On the rehabilitation program, Mr Aidoo said 74,813 farms covering 67,385.43 hectares and owned by 56,105 farmers had been rehabilitated and were getting along nicely.
He expressed out of the figure 44,480 farms, which covered 40,150.40 hectares having a place with 28,510 farmers, were developed as of August 2024 and would be given over to the farmers.
He said different mediations including pruning and hand pollination stayed a unique advantage in working on quality beans.
Mr Aidoo said he was profoundly dazzled about the achievement of a female cocoa farmer who recorded efficiency of 6.7 tons per hectare or 41 sacks for each section of land, outperforming her male partner who delivered 4.1 tons per hectare in the season.
"This plainly exhibits the capacities of women cocoa farmers in the country," he expressed, adding that without precedent for 32 years, COCOBOD didn't turn to seaward acquiring or yearly partnership.
Mr Aidoo demonstrated that "while progressive National Democratic Congress (NDC) government looked for abroad financing for cocoa supporting, successive New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration effectively changed the country from over-dependence on foreign loans".
He said COCOBOD had embraced a 'zero-getting model' to fund the 204/2025 harvest season under President Nana Akufo-Addo's government, saying since the season started in mid-September, farmers had been getting expeditious payment contrasted with the earlier years.
Furthermore, the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) were presently showing a quicker circle back in their buys and conveyances, he said.
Mr Michael P. K Asumanu, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Administrator of the COCOBOD said women assumed a significant part in the cocoa value chain, saying women were effectively engaged with getting ready seedlings, harvesting, drying, and offer of cocoa beans.
In any case, he communicated worry about specific hindrances that obstructed women' correspondence in cocoa farming, referencing restricted admittance to assets including land for farming and time imperatives because of household as a part of the boundaries.
Mr Asumanu said unfair accepted norms, perceptions, and cultural practices likewise fundamentally impact women' cooperation in useful activities in the cocoa value chain.
Ms Martha Addai, the President of BAWCOF, asked stakeholders to assist with battling unlawful mining, saying unlawful mining activities "galamsey" kept on threaten the cocoa industry.
She likewise advised cocoa farmers against carrying the beans to adjoining nations, featuring the significance of selling the produce locally to support the economy, in this way upgrading the economic livelihood of individuals.
Ms Addai said the union was teaming up with Non-Governmental Organisations which were giving significant preparation and backing not exclusively to further develop cocoa production yet additionally to enable farmers to be economically supported in the slow time of year.
She said BAWCOF collectively oversaw 6,857.82 hectares of cocoa farms that yielded 82,923 sacks of cocoa in each farming season.
The celebration additionally offered a chance for the endorsers to go through free breast cancer screening organised by the staff of the Cocoa Clinic.