THE government last Wednesday announced an upward adjustment in the producer price of cocoa in order to motivate cocoa farmers to increase production.
Under the package, the government introduced an insurance scheme for all cocoa farmers to alleviate their hardships when they retire from farming.
While cocoa farmers have generally hailed the intervention by the government, something happening in the cocoa sector does not signal good things to happen in the industry.
It is, however, shocking that at the time the government is taking steps to raise cocoa production to about one million tonnes per annum, the Abuakwa Formulation Plant in Kumasi has already been closed down.
The plant, which produces Confidor, the insecticide used for the mass cocoa spraying exercise, has been shut down and the appointment of all management members and other staff terminated.
Reports say the decision to close down the plant followed the pulling out of the majority shareholder, Bayer Crop Science Limited of Germany, and the inability of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the minority shareholder, to carry on with the operations.
It is rather unfortunate that the partnership has broken down and COCOBOD has to contract a private company to import the insecticide from Germany for the mass spraying exercise.
Through the rationale for the closure of the plant has not been disclosed, certainly, this piece of news is not refreshing. Besides posing major challenges for the mass spraying exercise, the closure will lead to loss of jobs and hardships for the workers and their dependants.
We concede that sometimes an organisation needs to cede some of its functions to other partners in order to concentrate on its core business, but we beg to say in this instance that COCOBOD cannot pass on the production of insecticides, key ingredient in its efforts to maximise cocoa output, to another party.
Perhaps COCOBOD has very cogent reasons for not taking over control of the plant to produce the insecticide locally, but decided rather to import it. From economics standpoint, that may be the most prudent thing to do.
However, the social and political costs, if not considered properly, can cause tension and confusion, not only within the circles of the workers who have been affected by the closure, but also among farmers who may not get their allocation of insecticide to spray their farms.
What really baffles the DAILY GRAPHIC is the feet-dragging attitude that characterised the closure of the plant.
We think if the authorities were bent on saving the plant, something concrete could have been done when the workers appealed to the government last year to intervene in order to suspend plans about closing down the company.
The DAILY GRAPHIC urges the government to investigate the circumstances leading to the closure of the plant, because sometimes, personal considerations can be at the heart of the shutdown of the plant.
We know all public officials are supposed to discharge their duties for the benefit of society, but it will also be naive to assume that all actions of public officials are informed by the larger public interest.
Cocoa is our lifeblood, for which reason we must collectively, work hard to protect our heritage.
No comments:
Post a Comment