COVID-19: Cocoa farmers ‘cry’ to gov’t over storage systems and financial challenges
- Ghanaian cocoa farmers have expressed fears about COVID-19-related challenges such as poor warehousing systems and income disruptions
- They believe there is an urgent need for a national discussion on the creation of a local demand for their products
- According to COCOBOD, the pandemic has disrupted global chains of cocoa and this will slow the acquisition of the $3.5 billion cocoa syndication loan for the 2020/2021 cocoa crop season
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Ghanaian cocoa farmers have raised concerns about challenges they face in the line of work as the COVID-19 continues to disrupt economies.
Challenges such as poor warehousing systems and income disruptions have hampered the efforts of the farmers in an attempt to produce the best possible crops.
They have, therefore, called for national strategies to create a local demand for their produce so they don’t rely so much on international markets.
READ ALSO: Farmers and others raise alarm over food security challenges after COVID-19
Per a report by myjoyonline.com, Samuel Tetteh Korboe, winner of the 2019 International Cocoa Awards, argued that the coronavirus pandemic calls for an urgent relook into the creation of local market and improved warehousing mechanism for cocoa beans.
The Chief Executive of Cocobod, Joseph Boahen Aidoo has revealed the pandemic has disrupted global chains of cocoa saying, this will slow the acquisition of the $3.5 billion cocoa syndication loan for the 2020/2021 cocoa crop season.
YEN.com.gh earlier reported that COCOBOD has predicted that Ghana is likely to lose $1 billion in revenue following a drop in global cocoa prices.
YEN.com.gh understands that the outbreak of the coronavirus led to a decline in cocoa prices on the world market.
This, COCOBOD explained, has stalled the current syndication process for loan facilities for the 2020/2021 crop season.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Cashew farmers reduce price from GHC8 to GHC2
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Source: YEN.com.gh
