Eric Opoku calls for probe of the Cocoa Rehabilitation Project

Eric Opoku, National Democratic Congress spokesperson for agriculture, has expressed deep concern over the loss of more than 500,000 hectares of cocoa farms in Ghana due to the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Viral Disease.

Opoku points fingers at the government, citing perceived failures in executing the Cocoa Rehabilitation Project (CRP), a component of the World Bank and IMF-backed Economic Recovery Program.

He

Read full article.questions discrepancies in figures, highlighting a significant surge in affected farmlands from the initially reported 17%. Opoku urges a critical examination of the situation, sparking a crucial conversation on the effectiveness of agricultural initiatives and the consequences of mismanagement.

In an interview on Citi FM's Eyewitness News, Mr. Opoku said, “I am reliably informed that we have exhausted the amount earmarked for the rehabilitation, and COCOBOD will soon hand over the farms to the farmers, even though some farms have just been cut down and not even planted and provided with plantain suckers.”

“Once we have exhausted the resources, they intend to hand over the farms, so if, at the time of handing over, the programme is escalating to this extent, then something is wrong somewhere, and we need to interrogate that.”

“The picture being created is very alarming, and I don’t believe in the assurances that the CEO is offering because we are in the field, and we know what is happening there,” he added.