The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Lands and Forestry, Hon. Akwasi Konadu has chaired the fifth Cocoa and Forest National Oversight Committee Meeting on Friday, 4th October, 2024. The meeting, among others is to provide strategic guidance, make and approve key decisions to CFI implementation.
In his statement, the Deputy Minister outlined some measures by government through the Ministry and its partners in fighting deforestation associated with Cocoa production and its willingness to improve the livelihood of Cocoa farmers and their dependents.
He stated, the introduction of Green Ghana Project and the passage of the Wildlife management resource bill, REDD+ and CREMAs are some efforts made by Government through the Ministry to enhance forest conservation and support livelihoods in Cocoa areas.
Appealing to the companies present, Hon. Konadu said, the major challenge, however, is how to secure sustainable funding for the CFI National Secretariat operations.
The President of World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), Mr. Chris Vincent, commended Ghana’s partnership with WCF in solving the systematic challenges of deforestation linked to Cocoa and restoration of degraded forests.
He said, “Through this collaboration, we have seen important achievements on a number of fronts in Ghana last year “.
Mr. Chris Vincent stated that the CFI partnership will enable the cocoa sector to make further progress on the crucial issues of forest protection and restoration whilst strengthening farmer livelihoods and improving the resilience of the cocoa supply chain.
The Technical Director for Forestry at the Ministry, Mr. Joseph Osiakwan led the presentation of key milestone on CFI since its previous meetings.
Collective recommendations and decisions were made by partners from various Cocoa companies.
