The government of Ghana will, on Friday, 4 October 2019, launch the Cocoa Forest Redd Plus Programme in Accra, Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said.
The Cocoa Forest Redd Plus Programme is aimed at promoting a climate-smart cocoa regime in Ghana.
The intervention programme will be led by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Forestry Commission, World Cocoa Foundation, CSOs in the cocoa industry as well as other industry players.
Climate-smart cocoa farming is the production of cocoa without forest degradation but rather with methods that enrich the vegetation cover and nature.
At a press conference at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, Mr Oppong Nkrumah disclosed that through the programme, cocoa farmers will be supplied with seedlings of indigenous tree species to plant per acre. Farmers will also be discouraged from felling trees and encouraged to nurture them to provide cover for their cocoa farms.
The farmers will also be supported to register their farm trees so they have ownership and bargaining rights against timber merchants.
The combination of these interventions is expected to motivate cocoa farmers to lead the charge in providing vegetation cover for the cocoa industry. This, associated with the other interventions in the sector, should lead to more sustained cocoa farming and its attendant benefits to both farmers and the economy in general, the minister said.
“It is also expected to give a major boost to the climate protection agenda,” he added.
The launch of the programme will mark the beginning of the full rollout and cocoa farmers nationwide are expected to take advantage of it.
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