Minority spokesperson on agriculture has warned that cocoa production will hit an all time low if urgent steps are not taken to improve the sector.

Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto said government’s poor policies for the Agriculture sector have caused shortfalls in cocoa production.

His comments come after Finance minister Seth Terkper yesterday told parliament that a cocoa processing company, Barry Callebaut Ghana Ltd imported 15,500 tons of cocoa from Côte d’ivoire, during the 2014/2015 crop season.

Read more: Ghanna imported 15,500 tons of cocoa from La Côte d’ivoire in 2014/2015 crop year

He justified the imports by saying that it is not the first time such amount of beans is being imported into the country. He said similar importations were done from la Côte d'ivoire in 2005 and 2008.

But Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto tells Joy News the development is evidence of lack of cocoa beans in the country to feed local industries

“This year if we are able to match the 740,000 of last year, we will be lucky…I mean the reports from the fields clearly indication that we will struggle to match even that low level,” he said.

He urged government to change its policy on Agriculture to boost cocoa production in the country.

He said it had been stated in the 2014 annual report of the COCOBOD that less than 17,000 metric tons of cocoa was supplied to Cocoa Processing Company which is below the 65,000 capacity of the company.

Smuggling, seasonal weather and pests have been the causes of shortfalls in cocoa production in Ghana.