Farmers are grateful to the Kufuor admin - Nana Nyarko

Dunkwa-Akwaboa (C/R), Oct. 31, GNA - Nana Kwaku Nyarko, National Vice-Chairman of the Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (GCCSFA), has praised the Kufuor administration for keeping faith with farmers.

He said they were grateful to the government for its various interventions that had made cocoa farming become more attractive and rewarding and brought tremendous improvement to their lives.

Nana Nyarko was speaking at a forum held by the GCCSFA at Dunkwa-Akwaboa in the Central region for farmers to discuss ways of enhancing efficiency in the cocoa industry.

He recalled days in the past where some farmers cut down their cocoa trees to make way for the planting of maize and other food crops. Nana Nyarko said due to the good producer price for the crop, bonus payments, pest control programme and the 'high-tech' fertilizer introduction, the people were now turning to cocoa cultivation in their numbers.

The National Vice-Chairman of the GCCSFA told his colleague farmers that the re-introduction of the Akuafo Cheque system was in their own interest and that they should ensure that it worked. "Let us refuse to accept being paid in cash for our produce and insist that all payments for cocoa are done through the Akuafo Cheque", he added.

Nana Nyarko noted that the cheque system would not only protect them from cheating by unscrupulous purchasing clerks but also help to provide them with the opportunity to access credit facilities from the banks.

He advised them to use part of their turnover to expand and maintain their farms so as to enable the country to recapture the top spot in world cocoa production.