Cocoa Price Still On The Down Side; It Should Have Been GH�450 Per Bag - Sir John

Former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie believes the increase of GH�345 per bag of 64kg gross in cocoa purchasing price by government is still not enough considering two years without any increment. According to Sir John as he is known in political circles, cocoa farmers and farmers in general deserve better and fair prices for their effort as for almost two years, the government has failed to increase cocoa purchasing price. Government on Thursday announced an upward review in the producer price of cocoa from GH�3,392 per tonne to GH�5,520. This represents an increase of GH�2,128, per tonne or 62.74 per cent, translating into GH�345 per bag of 64kg gross that represents 74 per cent for the net Free on Board (FOB) for the 2014/2015 crop season, and takes effect from October 3. The increase makes Ghana the highest producer price of cocoa per bag in West Africa, compared to Cote d�Ivoire where a bag of 64kg is sold at 860 CFA GH�320. But despite the significant increment in producer price of cocoa, Sir John on Okay Fm�s Ade Akye Abia programme insisted the price should have been GH�450 per bag of 64kg considering the fact that cocoa farmers have been starved for 2 years without any increment. He stressed that the cocoa farmers have not been paid their bonuses, thus the children of farmers have been living miserably for the past three years. To him, the NDC government should accept that cocoa farmers have not been treated fairly. �The government could have done better with the increment of cocoa purchasing price, because the whole of last two years the farmers expected increment but it never happened...the government has starved the farmers for almost 2 years and so President Mahama should have paid them well for their service. "The government could have given the farmers GH�450 per bag of 64kg gross; the money for the farmers is too small,all the things the government has promised to do for the farmers will not materialize because NDC government is known for its lies,� he posited.