The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has disclosed that the organisation has refunded $250 million it acquired from the African Development Bank for irrigation purposes in cocoa farms.

According to him, the Ghana Irrigation Authority, who were the consultants tasked to execute the project, advised against its feasibility due to the contamination of rivers by illegal mining activities, which posed a threat to cocoa trees.

“When Cocoa Board went to the African Development Bank to secure some US$600 million, then we had to return $250 million. Part of that money was intended for irrigation. 

“We commissioned the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority to do a pre-appraisal for our assessment and the report we brought was that almost all the rivers were contaminated.”

He emphasised that until measures are taken to address illegal mining, the cocoa industry remains vulnerable.

Mr Aidoo pointed out that the majority of rivers in cocoa-growing regions are polluted, rendering the water unsuitable for use in cocoa cultivation.

This situation, he said has forced farmers to incur additional expenses by transporting water from their homes to their farms.

“Previously, the farmer gets to the nearest stream around the farm, and then he fetches the water to do the mass spraying and all that. But now, you cannot, because the leaves have process, which we call the stomata. 

“And once you spray this muddy water onto it, the mud is going to block, this stomata and within a short time, you find all the leaves coming down. The trees will die. You cannot also use it for irrigation because it means that you have to be changing your filters almost every day,” he said.