COCOA REHABILITATION PROGRAMME ON PILOT IN A/R

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Solidaridad West Africa, an international non-governmental organization concerned with improved and increased agricultural productivity initiatives in the West Africa sub-region, has embarked on a field trip to assess progress of its ongoing Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme at two project sites at New Edubiase in the Ashanti Region and Assin Fosu in the Central region.

 The Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme for Ghana, CORIP-Ghana, is a four-year project which was rolled out in 2013 with the objective of contributing towards the intensification of cocoa production systems in Ghana to further translate into sustainable productivity enhancement and economic returns for cocoa farmers.  Correspondent Enoch Kofi Saarkwah has the rest of the story. 
 
The 20 million Euros programme is being coordinated by Solidaridad West Africa in partnership with the International Fertilizer Development Company, IFDC, Ghana Cocoa Board and seven local and international private companies, with funding by the Dutch Embassy and the Sustainable Trade Initiative. 

After visits to two project sites at New Edubiase in the Adansi North district of Ashanti and Assin Fosu in the Central region, the Programmes Manager of Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme for Ghana, Eric Agyare explained that the programme is being rolled out through Rural Service Centres, which provide variety of agricultural productivity enhancement services and technical training packages for interested farmers at standard costs.

 He said there are 20 of these centres currently operating across cocoa producing districts in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Western and Central regions which by design are expected to become self-financing and sustainable businesses by completion of the programme. 

Mr. Agyare noted also that each of the Rural Service Centres is expected to impact about two thousand cocoa farmers to particularly re-orient them to acceptable productivity enhancement and sustainability practices to change the traditional outlook of their agricultural activities into viable and profitable business modules.

 This, he emphasized has the potential to increase cocoa production from the current 250 kilograms per hectare to about 500 kilograms per hectare, while reducing poverty to improve livelihoods of cocoa farmers and attracting the youth to venture into the sub-sector. 

Mr. Agyare further mentioned the identification and usage of quality fertilizers among other inputs by beneficiary cocoa farmers as well as access to a wide range of technical services as some key successes of the programme realized so far. 

Ten beneficiary farmers who through the Rural Service Centres financial literacy had increased the amount in their respective savings account were awarded with knapsack sprayers, machetes, fertilizers and stationery.

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