{"id":122405,"date":"2026-05-29T14:04:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=122405"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:04:48","slug":"cocobod-has-outlived-its-usefulness-farmers-day-must-be-reviewed-ndpc-chairman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=122405","title":{"rendered":"COCOBOD has outlived its usefulness; farmers\u2019 day must be reviewed \u2014 NDPC Chairman"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has called for a critical review of the relevance of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), arguing that the institution may have outlived its usefulness in Ghana\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a lecture on infrastructure and development planning at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable 2026, he said cocoa no longer occupies the dominant position it once held in the country\u2019s economy, making it necessary to rethink the structure used to manage the sector.<\/p>\n

According to him, cocoa accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the Gold Coast economy in the 1920s and about 60 per cent by 1951, but currently contributes less than two per cent of Ghana\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy then do we need a bureaucratic behemoth to superintend the sector?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n

He argued that despite decades of state control, COCOBOD has failed to significantly improve productivity in the cocoa sector, with output levels remaining below potential and lower than some competing cocoa-producing countries.<\/p>\n

The NDPC Chairman also criticised what he described as excessive bureaucracy and misplaced priorities within the institution, citing reports of a COCOBOD guest house in London while many cocoa farmers in Ghana continue to struggle with poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood crop farmers remain the poorest socio-economic group in the country, followed ironically by cash crop farmers,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He further questioned the relevance of the annual National Farmers Day celebration, saying the programme has not substantially improved the welfare of farmers or reduced Ghana\u2019s food import bill despite years of recognition ceremonies and awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand we couldn\u2019t even pay the money for a prize winner,\u201d he said, adding that he supports calls for the programme to be abolished.<\/p>\n

According to him, Ghana must pursue reforms that improve productivity and ensure resources are allocated more efficiently to sectors that can drive economic transformation and better livelihoods for citizens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has called for a critical review of the relevance of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), arguing that the institution may have outlived its usefulness in Ghana\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a lecture on infrastructure and development planning at the Ishmael Yamson & Associates Business Roundtable 2026, he said cocoa no longer occupies the dominant position it once held in the country\u2019s economy, making it necessary to rethink the structure used to manage the sector.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1221,319,5819,1945,1883,3489,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cocobod","category-economy","category-farmers","category-hp-news-8","category-national","category-ndpc","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}