A legislator on the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee in Parliament says the recent 11% increase in producer price for cocoa will do nothing to improve dwindling production figures of Ghana’s major export commodity.

Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto says apart from the low producer price for cocoa, farmers also get poor treatment with respect to inputs that they require for efficient production – urging the government to tackle both problems to drive up production figures of cocoa.

“11.5% is not good. Inflation in this country is 17% so it means that farmer will be worse off.  Even if [government] had gone up to 17% to match the rate of inflation the farmer will still not be sufficiently remunerated for cocoa production to be profitable,” he said.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso in the Ashanti Region was speaking on PM Express on the Joy News channel on Multi TV.

The government reviewed the producer price for cocoa upwards at a ceremony to commemorate this year's national cocoa day in Tepa in the Ashanti Region.

The new price will go for GH¢475.00 per bag, 50 cedis higher than what it was previously sold for.

The government hopes to discourage cocoa smuggling to Ivory Coast and shore up falling production figures. Production stands at about 700,000 bags annually, falling consistently from the 2010/2011 production that stood at about one million bags.

Speaking on PM Express Tuesday evening, Dr Afriyie-Akoto -- who is himself a cocoa farmer -- said the government should have factored critical macroeconomic figures in the new producer price.

“For three years there was no increase in producer price. In those three years, world prices were going up, inflation was going up at the same time exchange rate was going down,” he lamented.

Dr Afriyie-Akoto also condemned the current administration for the poor management of the free fertilizer distribution scheme, noting that it would have been better if the government sold the fertilizer to farmers.

“The government over the last three years has adopted a free input policy; which means that all input to do with cocoa farming should be supplied free of charge to farmers.

“But cocoa farmers all over the country are complaining that they are not getting sufficient pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizer,” said the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP.

He attributes the problem to poor execution of the policy due to politics. He said people appointed to distribute the inputs have been blinded by politics, choosing to give selective in the distribution of the inputs.

He fears that destruction of cocoa farms by the swollen shoot virus could wipe out the country's cocoa within three years if essential inputs such as fungicides are not provided to farmers.

Until policy makers move to tackle head on, the twin problem of poor remuneration to cocoa farmers and lack of farming inputs, Ghana will lose its place in the export market, Dr Afriyie-Akoto said.

Watch entire show in the video link below.