Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Vice Presidential Candidate of the governing NPP, has touted the record of the government in the cocoa sector.
He described their achievement as unprecedented in the nation’s history.
He noted that this unprecedented record is in all spheres including cocoa production, provision of incentives to cocoa farmers and attending to the wellbeing of the cocoa farmer.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh, who was addressing a community engagement at Numereso in the Odotobiri Constituency as part of his constituency-focused campaign tour on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, added Ghana recorded its highest ever cocoa production of over 1 million metric tons under the this current government in the 2020/2021 crop season.
This milestone, he stressed, was achieved as a result of government’s commitment to prioritizing investments.
On the wellbeing of cocoa farmers, the Running Mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia observed that the Ghanaian cocoa farmer is today better off than he has ever been in the history of Ghana, owing it to interventions put in place by the NPP government.
He emphasized; “In 2016 when NPP took over, the price of a sack of cocoa stood at GHS 475. Today, following the latest increase, the price of a sack of cocoa has drastically risen to GHS 3,000 [representing over 315% increase].
“This is also the second increase in the year [2024] following an earlier increase of the price by 58.26% in the month of April this year. We will continue to support initiatives like the fertilizer application programme, cocoa mass spraying, pollination to further increase cocoa production.”
The benefits of these increases in the producer price of cocoa, according to the Dr. Opoku Prempeh, include giving the cocoa farmer a higher value for his cocoa beans, protecting the farmer against volatility of cocoa prices on the international market by giving him or her a guaranteed price, serving as motivation to them to increase their investments in the sector resulting in the creation of more jobs and stimulating economic growth.
NAPO, as he is affectionately called, used the occasion to appeal to the Chiefs and people of Odotobiri constituency to repose their trust in the NPP and vote massively for the party’s presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and parliamentary candidate for the area, Lawyer Anthony Mmieh, to improve their livelihoods.
He concluded his campaign tour for the day by visiting Bekwai and Fomena constituencies where he also rallied support for the party’s parliamentary candidates, Lawyer Ralph Poku-Adusei and Lawyer Andrew Asiamah respectively.
