Olam Ghana, a leading supply chain manager of agri-products and one of Ghana’s biggest cocoa buying agencies, has announced the payment of GHc4 million in premiums to cocoa farmers for the 2015/2016 season.
The amount represents a 100 per cent increase over the total premium of GHc1.9 million paid to farmers last year.
[contextly_sidebar id=”SUmuJnnK0EVl2ImRie2SHbBn2issHygB”]The announcement was made at a cocoa farmers’ durbar at Mumuni, near Samreboi in the Amenfi West District of the Western Region, which attracted more than 1,000 cocoa farmers from all the cocoa growing regions in the country.
This season’s premiums are distributed to some 12,000 farmers across the country, each of whom would receive GHc15 as bonus on each bag of cocoa sold to the company.
The premiums, popularly known as bonuses, are paid to deserving farmers for selling certified cocoa beans to the company, based on premium grading by cocoa buyers on the international market.
General Manager of Olam’s Cocoa Licensed Buying Company (LBC) business, Mr Eric Asare Botwe who announced the season’s premium payment, commended the farmers for their hard work during the season and urged them to continue to focus on improving not just the quantity but also the quality of the cocoa they produce.
Mr Botwe said Olam is committed to put in place the right measures to ensure an increase in production of premium cocoa, whilst it works to improve the quality of life of all farmers within Olam’s operational areas.
He disclosed that this year, Olam has voted one million dollars (four million Cedis) as interest-free loans to cocoa farmers to enable them to procure farm inputs and other needs for their operations.
He described the initiative as constituting an important aspect of Olam’s commitment to helping improve the standard of living of farmers.
The occasion also marked the launch of the Wassa Amenfi Educational Fund, providing GH¢ 40,000 as seed capital to support the development of education in the area.
Under the Fund, Olam Ghana would adopt a school in the Wassa Amenfi area and develop it into a model school to meet the standards of schools in urban areas of the country.
Mr Botwe said a needs assessment team is on the ground conducting feasibility studies for the initiative.
He explained that the goal of the company is to promote the well-being of farmers by working with them to attain improved and sustainable livelihood for themselves, their families and their communities at large, with education as one of the most important components.
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Source: GNA