COCOBOD to complete existing cocoa road projects but… – CEO

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has pledged to continue and complete the cocoa road projects that are currently under development throughout Ghana.

New cocoa road projects won’t be started, though.

This comes after the administration has been interacting with the IMF continuously.

On Monday, August 14, 2023, COCOBOD provided clarification in response to media reports claiming that all cocoa road developments had been halted as a result of an IMF directive.

In order to address transportation challenges relating to the supply of agro-inputs to cocoa producers and to promote cocoa bean evacuation, COCOBOD created the Cocoa Road Program.

On Thursday, August 9, 2023, the CEO of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, told reporters at the 50th Anniversary Celebration symposium at the Cocoa Clinic that “the current situation with the IMF is that they say yes now we can continue and complete what we have started but we should not start any more new cocoa road construction”.

He went on to say that the purpose of the cocoa roads was to make it simple for locals to access healthcare and other crucial social services in cocoa-growing areas in order to assure speedy development.

“The EU sent a team last year to do due diligence on sustainable production and when they came, a member of the delegation wanted to know why COCOBOD has been involved in cocoa roads construction because it is not a core business of COCOBOD and the said member of delegation insisted that we take that venture out of our equation; and, the IMF is also saying the same thing. They say that we can continue with what we are currently constructing and not start new ones”, Mr Boahen stated.

However, the board claims that a portion of the media has distorted the aforementioned statement.

During the ceremony, Mr. Boahen Aidoo also stated that there were plans in place to develop healthcare facilities in cocoa-growing areas to improve farmers’ access to healthcare delivery.

“I have had the experience where a woman, who was in labor and couldn’t deliver in 2001 had to be carried in a hammock and travelled over 28 kilometers and couldn’t survive.”

“When we look at the countryside to see how our cocoa farmers struggle to access health delivery, you will be touched to do something; and that is why, as an institution, it is important to bring health services and facilities as closer to these farmers as possible.”