Mr Muhammadu Muzzammil, Country Director of Ecom Group Ghana, a leading cocoa buying company, said LBCs had the responsibility to provide the needed support to cocoa farmers to increase their crop yields and incomes.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the side-lines of a training workshop for staff of the company in Kumasi, Mr Muzzammil advised some LBCs not to encourage farmers to smuggle cocoa beans to neighbouring countries, adding that, such a practice should be condemned by all.

The workshop was to create an opportunity for the company’s franchise holders and officers to understand the new strategies, reflect on challenges and key successes chalked over the years and chart new ways to meet the next cocoa season.

Mr. Muzzammil, said the government through the COCOBOB, was working to improve the incomes and socio-economic lives of cocoa farmers. It was therefore important for all LBCs to support the government’s initiatives by providing cocoa farmers with the right benefits and incentives.

Mr Muzzammil said the Company, had over the years continued to maintain its leadership in local cocoa buying, which ran the largest sustainable cocoa programmes and initiatives. He said the Company at the just ended cocoa season, paid GHC19 million as premium to farmers who sold their beans to them.