He said a whistleblower would be entitled to one-third of the value of any “contraband” intercepted.
Dr Ofosu-Ampofo during a stakeholder engagement on cocoa smuggling at Hohoe in the Volta Region, said the Board had realised that one of the challenges COCOBOD was facing, especially in the Volta and Oti regions, was the smuggling of cocoa beans across the country’s borders.
He said it was realised that the juxtaposed cost of input supplied to farmers and the output in terms of production was nothing to write home about.
He said, “As a policy, we decided to come and engage the stakeholders and find out some of the push and pull factors that had resulted in this unprecedented level of smuggling.”
Dr Ofosu-Ampofo said COCOBOD would plough back findings and suggestions into its policy-making process to see how it could redesign some of the policy initiatives to address the exigencies of the day.
He said the government through COCOBOD had developed a new scholarship scheme for the children of cocoa farmers, targeting those who would be entering into tertiary institutions.
Research had revealed that the Oti and Volta regions had the best soil, quality of soil suitable for cocoa production, as well as devoid of “galamsey” activities, Dr Ofosu-Ampofo said.
He said the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana had developed hybrid cocoa which was now reducing the period from planting to production from three years to 27 months.
He called on business communities, public servants, politicians and all those who wanted to go into the cocoa industry to take advantage of the golden age to go into the cocoa plantation.
Dr Ofosu-Ampofo said COCOBOD had outlined a number of measures and that they were going to team up with Security Councils in the Oti and Volta regions, to tackle the smuggling menace and reduce it to the barest minimum.
Mr Jake Kudjo Samahar, the Director, Special Services, COCOBOD said smuggling routes in the Oti Region included Jasikan-Bodada, Asato-Kadjebi, Nkonya-Jasikan, Poase Cement-Obuasi, Dodofie-Dodo Amanfrom and Pampawie-Amapayo-Ahamansu, all through to Togo.
He said for the Volta Region, smuggling routes included Tsito-Bame-Kpedze, Logba-Leklebi, Alavanyo-Hohoe-Kpando-Fodome-Wli, all through to Togo.
Mr Samahar stated that political interference had been identified as hindering the fight against cocoa smuggling.
He revealed that although between August 8 to September 29, 2025, a total of 14 vehicles with cocoa beans were impounded by the Sogakope Taskforce, only one of these was currently packed at the police station.
Mr James Gunu, the Volta Regional Minister, said the Region was strategically positioned to grow cocoa and would not be a transitional zone for the smuggling of cocoa.
He noted that the fight against cocoa smuggling was one of a clarion call since any bag of cocoa smuggled reflected a job lost in the cocoa sector.
Source:accessagric.com
