Government has introduced a new non-adjustable electronic weighing scale for the purchase of cocoa from cocoa farmers.

President Akufo-Addo disclosed this while delivering the 2022 State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.

He said the new scale is such that cocoa farmers cannot tamper with it.

“This scale, which was introduced at the start of the cocoa season in October, has been approved by the Ghana Standards Authority, it cannot be tampered with by purchasers,” he noted.

The President also noted that the cocoa industry under his administration has recorded the highest ever tonnes of cocoa.

 “Mr Speaker, the cocoa industry has marked a lot of interesting and far-reaching achievements this past year, including producing one million, and forty-seven thousand, three hundred and eighty-five tonnes (1,047,385), the highest ever recorded in Ghana’s history.”

According to him, Ghana in partnership with Cote d’Ivoire has addressed the disparities in the International marketing system of cocoa buying by paying a Living Income Differential of $400 per tonne of cocoa to farmers.

He said such achievement is a “remarkable initiative that cushions the income of the Ghanaian cocoa farmer, the backbone of our economy”.

President Akufo-Addo also disclosed that the government is training some 537 youth in the production of high-value vegetables using Greenhouse technology.

“One hundred and ninety (190) of them have been on an 11-month internship in Israel, and they are back with a lot of enthusiasm. We are expecting great things from them,” he stated.

The President noted that this forms part of efforts to use technology to attract more young people into agriculture.