GHANA:
Government raises cocoa producer prices
ACCRA, 23 October (IRIN) - The Ghanaian government has opened this
year's main cocoa season in which it expects a production boom by
announcing an unprecedented producer price increase, the fourth in three years.
"The producer price is increased from 8.5 million cedis to 9 million
cedis [about US $1,013 and $1,073 respectively] per metric tonne of
cocoa. This takes immediate effect," Finance Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo, told
reporters in Accra.
Cocoa and gold are the backbone of the Ghanaian economy. Six out of the
country's 10 regions produce cocoa, the largest producers being the
Western, Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions.
The industry however faced a slump in recent times losing out its
second position to Indonesia on the coveted world producer rankings, as a
result of crop diseases and the rampant smuggling of cocoa beans to
neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire.
Ghana's current price is 55 percent above the prices paid to farmers in
Cote d'Ivoire. This has raised competitiveness and curbed high
incidence of smuggling of the cocoa beans.
Officials in the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) said improved agronomic
practices and as well as embarking on a major disease control project
enabled Ghana to increase its cocoa production to approximately 497,000 mt
for the 2002/2003 season.
The yield, which is the highest recorded in almost 40 years, restores
Ghana as the second highest producer of cocoa after Cote d'Ivoire.
Ivorian authorities have however reported an estimated drop of upto 20
percent in production because of the war that broke out in that country in
September last year.
Osafo-Maafo said that in recognition of the efforts of Ghanaian cocoa
farmers, a pre-season bonus of about $937,332 would be paid to the
farmers. This would bring the total bonus paid out for the 2002/2003 season
to about $19 million.
The government is also pumping an additional $143,104 into the Cocoa
Scholarship scheme, which was instituted by Ghana's first President Kwame
Nkrumah in the 1960's, to support the education of children of cocoa
farmers.
Government officials said in order to further add value to its cocoa
beans, Ghana would also increase the local processing of cocoa beans to
40 percent in the coming years from the current 32 percent.
Dagbon state of emergency and curfew relaxed
ACCRA, 23 October (IRIN) - Ghanaian President John Kufuor has said the
government will not renew a two-year state of emergency and curfew in
four districts of the strife-torn northern Ghanaian Dagbon traditional
area.
Ghana's Minister of the Interior, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, said the four
districts included Tolon-Kumbungu, Savelugu-Nanton, Gushegu-Karaga and
Zabzugu-Tatale where a state of emergency and the curfew were imposed
in March 2002.
The imposition of the emergency measures followed a chieftaincy dispute
between two ruling families that led to the killing of the Dagbon King,
Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and 29 other people on 27 March.
Owusu-Agyeman however said upon recommendations of security agencies,
Kufuor had maintained the state of emergency in the northern regional
capital, Tamale, and the Yendi district, which was the scene of the
clashes that led to the Dagbon King's death. The King's palace was razed
during the clashes while he was beheaded.
Tamale and Yendi will continue to be covered by a midnight to dawn
curfew, but Interior Ministry officials said security agencies would
monitor the situation in the two towns and announce any changes once security
improved.
The two wrangling families belong to two clans that have disagreed over
the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis for nearly 40 years, namely the Andani
and Abudu clans.