A concerned citizen, Oheneba Martin, on Friday appealed to workers of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to exercise restraint, to ensure that peace and tranquillity prevailed in the company for it to continue to achieve more successes.
In a statement issued to GNA in Accra, Oheneba Martin expressed concern about agitations from some of the workers against Mr Anthony Fofie, Chief Executive of COCOBOD, for his removal from office.
He noted that COCOBOD under the leadership of Mr Fofie had seen tremendous improvement in its operations therefore; all the efforts should not be derailed.
“Through the dedication of Mr Fofie to duty, foresight and can do spirit has raised the image of COCOBOD,” he added.
Mr Fofie recently in a statement said Ghana was committed to increasing the production of cocoa to one million metric tonnes this year.
He said cocoa companies had adopted strategies to motivate cocoa farmers and improve on the quality of cocoa beans to ensure that they met the target.
Mr Fofie said “The initiative would help Cocoa Marketing Company (CMC) to sell Ghana’s cocoa on the international market for good prices to maximise the foreign exchange earnings of the country.”
He was speaking at a public lecture to commemorate CMC’s 50th Anniversary on the theme “Harnessing the Gains of Cocoa Trade: A Reflection of the Monopoly of Cocoa Marketing Company” in Accra.
Information available indicates that COCOBOD purchased 693,000 metric tonnes of beans during the first 15 weeks of the 2010-11 main crop seasons, which ended on February 20, representing a 40.4 per cent increase over the same period last season.
The Management of COCOBOD had reviewed upwards its pre-season cocoa output forecast from 700,000 tonnes to 800,000 tonnes for the 2010/11 crop year.
In May this year, COCOBOD announced that Ghana achieved a record harvest in the cocoa main crop season provisionally fixed at 903,646 metric tons.
A statement issued in Accra by the Public Affairs Department of COCOBOD, said this was the highest since the county registered its name on the international market as a producer of cocoa.
“The record production has been the result of concerted efforts by government, farmers, Ghana Cocoa Board and major players in the industry through the adherence to good agronomic methods, modern farming processes, payment of remunerative prices for the produce, development of hybrid cocoa seedlings, application of fertilisers, disease and pest control and scientific research,” the statement said.
The light crop season begins on June 10, according to COCOBOD.
The statement said since 1999 governments, through COOBOD, had put in place pragmatic measures to ensure that Ghana maintained the quality of its beans for which it is noted worldwide, sustain and also increase cocoa production.
“Today we can boast of a record production and hope to reach the one million tons target by 2012/2013.”
COCOBOD congratulated the hardworking cocoa farmers, Licensed Buying Companies, haulers, chemical and processing companies, the national anti-smuggling taskforce, COCOBOD, its divisions and subsidiaries and all stakeholders for the relentless efforts that had propelled the country to attain the record level of cocoa production.
“As we prepare to start the light crop season for 2010/2011, we encourage all our stakeholders to continue to work strenuously to enable us to achieve an all-time record of one million tons by2012/2013 crop season,” the statement said.