The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has called for depoliticisation of the cocoa sector, stating that durable reforms demanded dialogue beyond partisan recrimination, with farmers’ welfare as the non-negotiable centre.
They said that the crisis in the sector called for a sober reassessment of the country’s historical reliance on a single export commodity.
“Economic resilience requires diversification within agriculture and the expansion of agro-processing. Equally urgent is the reclamation of lands ravaged by illegal mining, without which future agricultural promise will wither,” the bishops added.
This was contained in a pastoral letter by the conference outlining seven-point strategic measures for the renewal of the cocoa sector, addressed to the President.
It was signed by the Bishop of Sunyani and President of the conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi.
Forensic audit
They also called for a forensic audit of the sector, covering the past 12 years, which the letter said should be published promptly to rebuild trust and discipline.
The bishops also urged the government to provide social protection support to the farmers, including the timely distribution of subsidised inputs.
The government should also encourage the cultivation of complementary crops such as plantain to reduce excessive dependence on cocoa.
The bishops also called for the provision of more disease-resistant seedlings, strengthening of extension services to the farmers to safeguard quality and preserving the country’s premium reputation in the sector.
The government should also facilitate access to land, affordable credit, and technical training to render cocoa farming a dignified and viable livelihood for the next generation.
The clergymen said there was a need to reinforce research institutions and accelerate local processing to deepen value addition and buffer external shocks.
Payment
The bishops, however, called on President John Dramani Mahama to ensure the immediate settlement of all arrears owed to cocoa farmers in the country.
The bishops said doing so would pave the way for recent reforms in the sector, as announced by the government, to succeed.
They said that no reform could gain legitimacy while farmers remained unpaid, adding that “emergency liquidity is essential to restore confidence”.
In the pastoral letter dated last Tuesday, the bishops explained that they were addressing the President out of a profound sense of pastoral responsibility and civic fidelity regarding the deepening crisis in the nation’s cocoa sector.
The letter said that for more than a century, cocoa had been both an economic mainstay and a moral inheritance, sustaining rural households and underwriting national development.
“Through our dioceses embedded within farming communities, we encounter daily the quiet heroism and mounting anguish of cocoa farmers. Conscience, therefore, compels us to speak,” they said.
Commitment
The bishops further entreated the government to rescue the cocoa sector, which they said was both an economic necessity and a moral imperative, adding that there must be transparent leadership and steadfast commitment to the common good.
They assured the President of their prayers for wisdom and courage, and expressed the trust that “a decisive action will restore confidence and secure a sustainable future for this noble inheritance.”
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh
