{"id":364711,"date":"2017-10-24T17:05:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T17:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=364711"},"modified":"2017-10-24T17:05:34","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T17:05:34","slug":"minoritys-claims-weve-neglected-cocoa-farmers-bogus-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/minoritys-claims-weve-neglected-cocoa-farmers-bogus-govt\/","title":{"rendered":"Minority&#8217;s claims we&#8217;ve neglected cocoa farmers bogus &#8211; Gov&#8217;t"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Regional Minister,Dr. Kwaku Afriyie has rubbished claims by the Minority suggesting that\u00a0government is short-changing cocoa farmers in the country.<\/p>\n<p>At a press conference in the Western Region, the Minority accused the Akufo-Addo government of poorly managing the cocoa sector.<\/p>\n<p>[contextly_sidebar id=&#8221;IbsuU974rpPKZcEPxFA1IIYmhyDMmU3C&#8221;]It further claimed that government has sidelined suspected NDC sympathizers in the distribution of the subsidized fertilizer.<\/p>\n<p>According to them, government&#8217;s decision to sell the fertilizer at a subsidized price instead of giving them out for free, amounts to robbing the farmers.<\/p>\n<p>But speaking to <strong>Citi News,<\/strong> Dr. Afriyie described such claims as misleading.<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Afriyie, the cocoa sector is doing well under the Akufo-Addo government, such that there is reverse smuggling of cocoa beans from Cote D\u2019ivoire to Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat the Minority said is very pathetic and very disingenuous. We have maintained the price at GHC 475\u2026As I speak to you now, there is reverse smuggling from Cote D\u2019lvoire to Ghana. If the prices were so good why are Ghanaian farmers not sending their cocoa to Cote D\u2019lvoire as was sometime in the past?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gov\u2019t has neglected cocoa farmers \u2013 Minority<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Minority Spokesperson on Agric, Eric Opoku, had accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/23\/govt-has-neglected-cocoa-farmers-minority\/\"><span style=\"color: #666699;\"><strong>neglecting cocoa farmers<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in\u00a0the country.<\/p>\n<p>He indicated that, this is evident in the cancellation of some road projects, challenges with cocoa mass spraying exercise, and replacement of free fertilizers with subsidized ones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur dear farmers, it is sad to note that no provision was made for cocoa roads in the COCOBOD budget for 2017\/18. This means that the cocoa roads which are deteriorating faster than anticipated due to the neglect of the NPP government, is going to get worse, making users (mostly farmers) wretchedly despondent and low-spirited to continue to labour for our dear nation,\u201d Mr. Opoku said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Opoku also accused the NPP government of sidelining perceived sympathizers of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), in the distribution of fertilizers, claiming that farmers are now in difficulties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe programme is overly politicized, and perceived NDC sympathizers are left out in the distribution of chemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He further challenged government to come clean on how much government has realized so far in the cocoa stabilization fund.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou may recall that in the last press conference, we made specific demands in respect of the Cocoa Stabilization Fund established in 2014 by the Mahama government. Even though attempts were made to respond to the issues raised, specific questions were not addressed. We are still interested in knowing how much is accumulated in the Cocoa Stabilization Fund and its impact on cocoa farmers in this critical period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Western Regional Minister,Dr. Kwaku Afriyie has rubbished claims by the Minority suggesting that\u00a0government is short-changing cocoa farmers in the country. At a press conference in the Western Region, the Minority accused the Akufo-Addo government of poorly managing the cocoa sector. [contextly_sidebar id=&#8221;IbsuU974rpPKZcEPxFA1IIYmhyDMmU3C&#8221;]It further claimed that government has sidelined suspected NDC sympathizers in the distribution [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[58,11],"tags":[295,1526,3,56],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Minority&#039;s claims we&#039;ve neglected cocoa farmers bogus - Gov&#039;t - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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[contextly_sidebar id=&#8221;IbsuU974rpPKZcEPxFA1IIYmhyDMmU3C&#8221;]It further claimed that government has sidelined suspected NDC sympathizers in the distribution [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/minoritys-claims-weve-neglected-cocoa-farmers-bogus-govt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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