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Press Release
NPP
NEWS STORY
No: NPP00110
26th January, 2016
NDC HAS BEEN A DISASTER
FOR THE COCOA SECTOR - BAWUMIA
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, NPP Running Mate for the 2016
Presidential Election, has urged Cocoa farmers and all
involved in the Cocoa Sector to support Nana Akufo-Addo and
the NPP since it is the party that has demonstrated the
capacity to grow the Cocoa sector with well-thought-out
policies.
Speaking at Brekum, a Cocoa growing community in the Amenfi
West Constituency, during a two-day tour of the
constituency, Dr. Bawumia recalled the strides the Cocoa
Sector made under the sterling leadership of President John
Kufuor and the NPP and how the sector was now struggling and
declining under the NDC.
“If you look at this farm behind us, most of the Cocoa trees
in it are dying. The Cocoa industry itself in Ghana is
collapsing. If you look at the Cocoa Sector in the Ivory
Coast and you look at Ghana, there is a clear difference in
how the sector is going. Under President Kufuor, the NPP
raised Cocoa production from 341,000 tonnes to about 700,000
tonnes by 2008. Thanks to the good work of the NPP, Cocoa
Production hit the historic 1million mark in 2010/2011. This
was due to policies like the Mass Spraying and Fertilizer
Subsidy programmes as well as other policies.
“Now these have collapsed. The NDC introduced politics into
the Mass Spraying policy for example. They forgot that Cocoa
farms are like a network and so if one farm gets damaged, it
would spread to other farms and so it is not smart to
discriminate like the NDC has done because it is farmers who
create wealth for this country and so by helping farmers,
you are helping Ghana. Any government that therefore does
politicization with a sensitive issue like Cocoa is only
damaging Ghana. This is why the Economy of Ghana is going
down at the same time Cocoa is going down“, he said.
Dr. Bawumia explained to the farmers Nana Akufo-Addo’s
vision for the Cocoa Sector when elected. He indicated that
the NPP will aggressively pursue policies that will ensure
that an additional 500,000 metric tonnes is added to the
current output in 10 years and that the achievement of this
vision will be hinged on supporting the hardworking Cocoa
farmers to produce more and bring more trees into
cultivation.
“Under the NPP, our view was that for Ghana to do well,
cocoa must do well. It is because of this we introduced the
mass spraying programme and fertilizer subsidy program.
“Our policy is to immediately restore the Mass Cocoa
Spraying and Fertilizer Subsidy programmes as well as a
policy to supply and bring new seedlings into cultivation
because withoutthis, the Ivory Coast will leave us behind
and we will soon fall below 500,000 tonnes but our vision is
to introduce policies that will see the addition of 500,000
tonnes to the output now. It is going to be an intensive
exercise and we will support our Cocoa Farmers greatly to
achieve this because when Cocoa does well, Ghana does well
but the NDC has failed to realise this.
“If you go to the Ivory Coast, Cocoa production is going up,
yet when you come to Ghana, it is falling. This means that
there is a problem in Ghana and that problem is the failed
NDC policies in the cocoa sector“, he added.
Dr. Bawumia took the opportunity to visit various Cocoa
farms in Berekum and other communities in the Amenfi West
Constituency to find out about the extent of decline in the
sector. He was accompanied on the tour by the Parliamentary
Candidate for the area, Paul Dekyi and visited over 20
communities including Woman No Good, Bena, Oforikrom,
BenaNkwanta, NyameBekyere, Ohiampeanika, Wansema, Ntaaboo,
Bisaaso, Mumuni, Pataase, Torompan, Nope, Mmoframfaadwen,
Ayensukrom, Gravel Yard, Ahwiam and Prestea Nkwanta.
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