The 2011 National best farmer, Mr. Ignatius Agbo, has paid a courtesy call on the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr. Anthony Fofie.In a brief meeting at Cocoa House in Accra, Mr. Fofie said farmers play very important role in the country’s development. He congratulated the National Best Farmer for his hard work which earned him the prestigious best farmer award. He said he had no doubt that, Mr. Agbo’s dedication to cocoa farming contributed to this historic achievement.The National Best Farmer expressed his gratitude to COCOBOD saying his relationship with the Board “dates years back”. He said majority of Ghanaian farmers were old and in order to encourage the younger generation to go into farming, there was the need to develop the rural areas. “The provision of amenities such as potable water, electricity, good roads, good schools and health facilities in the rural areas will motivate the youth to stay back and farm”, he said.According to Mr. Agbo, processing factories for some perishable goods could be established in the rural areas to save farmers from the losses they incur as a result of lack of storage and processing facilities within the farming communities.He bemoaned the menace of illegal mining on cocoa farms, especially in the Western Region. “If nothing is done about illegal mining, very soon, all cocoa farms will turn into galamsey mining sites and this will not only affect the farmers involved but the cocoa industry as a whole”, he added.Mr. Agbo appealed to the Chief Executive to facilitate the rehabilitation of the Zion road in the Upper Dinkyera District to ease the problems farmers face in transporting their produce to the market centres.In his response, Mr. Fofie reiterated COCOBOD’s commitment to farmers’ welfare, saying the Board would continue to assist Government to rehabilitate deplorable roads in cocoa growing areas. He added that from 2012, COCOBOD would facilitate the replanting of cocoa trees with over 20 million cocoa seedlings in all cocoa growing regions countrywide.