Cocoa farmers in the Wassa Amenfi West District of the Western Region are accusing some officers of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) of massive corruption in the distribution of fertilizer to farmers.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”l4KdNUHfDwEK0ZbzogH3HlAQdXrUwRz8″]They are alleging that some COCOBOD officials charged each farmer GHC 100 \u00a0as a prerequisite to getting \u00a0fertilizer.<\/p>\n
Some of the farmers who spoke to Citi News<\/strong> claimed they were made to pay the amount but they are yet to be supplied with the fertilizer.<\/p>\n \u201cThey took GHC 100 each from us with the explanation that the COCOBOD authorities will come and supply us with the fertilizers,\u201d an angry farmer told Citi News<\/strong>.<\/p>\n She continued saying, \u201csince we paid the money, we have not heard anything from them up till now and so we are very upset.\u201d<\/p>\n Another also narrated to Citi News<\/strong> that although the officers measured the size of her farm which is a basic requirement, she was not supplied with the product despite paying GHC 100.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the officers came here, they said I didn\u2019t qualify to be supplied with the fertilizers. They took measurement of my farm but they said I did not qualify so they did not give me some of the fertilizer but I paid,\u201d she fumed.<\/p>\n In 2014, COCOBOD introduced a free fertilizer initiative which was aimed at supplying free fertilizer to cocoa farmers to boost production.<\/p>\n According to COCOBOD, a substantial number of cocoa farmers in the country were unable to afford and properly utilize fertilizer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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