RESEARCH NEEDS FOR SUSTAINABLE COCOA PRODUCTION IN GHANA

Ghana has a unique cocoa governance system in Ghana, in which COCOBOD plays an important role on the national level but also at the farm level (access to chemicals, access to extension). However, according to the experts, the line of communication between what is happening on the ground and the policy level is insufficient. Implementing organisations should therefore aim to contribute to the policy dialogue and the resulting policy changes should have an impact on the ground. Especially with regards to biodiversity conservation in cocoa landscapes, which is not the primary focus of the people at the policy level, where the emphasis lies on productivity (Anon., personal communication). Moreover, since many stakeholders in the project will be part of vertical structures, collaboration can be greatly improved when the project is supported at the national level (Anon., personal communication).

The communication between farm and policy level can further be increased by improving farmers’ organisations and empowering them to participate in the national level discussions. Currently, there is a farmer’s organisation that is in close contact with COCOBOD, however, this is more a political group and not a grassroots farmer organisation (Anon., personal communication). Moreover, the recently established Ghana Cocoa Platform aims to increase communication between different stakeholders in the cocoa sector and this is where implementing parties and policy makers can meet.Some of the topics, that need to be discussed at the national level, according to the experts, include: profitability of small scale cocoa farming and the potential need for structural transformations (Anon., personal communication), the role of COCOBOD and the limitations that it sets for innovation by private companies (Anon., personal communication) and how to ‘depoliticise’ farming (Anon., personal communication).