Spokesperson for the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association (GNACOFA) and Chief Executive of Ohene Cocoa Ltd, Nana Aduna II, has called for a major rethink of the role of the Ghana Cocoa Board in addressing the country’s cocoa crisis.

Speaking on Newsfile on JoyNews on Saturday, February 14, Nana Aduna II argued that the structure and mandate of COCOBOD must be reviewed if the sector is to recover and grow sustainably.

He stressed that cocoa should be treated first and foremost as a business, not a political tool.

“Cocoa is a business. I’m a farmer and an entrepreneur. As long as we continue politicising our cocoa, we will have this challenge,” he said.

Nana Aduna II raised concerns about what he described as confusion over COCOBOD’s core function.

Referring to comments by a former minister who described COCOBOD as a trading institution, he questioned whether the Board’s role had become unclear.

“I want to ask the question, is cocoa board a regulator? Is cocoa board a trading institution? Is cocoa board a price competitor? Is cocoa board a price setter? What is cocoa board?” he asked.

“One of the solutions is that we should really scale down cocoa board and redefine exactly what they do,” he said.

According to him, COCOBOD should focus strictly on regulation rather than engaging in multiple roles within the sector. “I would prefer that they stay as a regulator,” he said.

He added that international financial institutions have also raised concerns about the structure of the sector.

“I think that the IMF and the World Bank have actually pointed out some of these things. They should actually focus on delivering them.”

While there has been public discussion about processing up to 50 per cent of Ghana’s cocoa locally, he questioned how much of that processing is truly in Ghanaian hands.

“There’s talk about 50 per cent processing. But how much of that processing is really done by local Ghanaian companies? Very little,” he said.

He said that the current structure leaves the country overly dependent on foreign interests. “If anything, we are locked into foreign issues,” he added.