COCOBOD Warns Fertiliser Smugglers as It Rolls Out Digital Tracking

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has cautioned that people who divert, hoard, resell or smuggle free fertiliser and other inputs intended for cocoa farmers will be prosecuted, as it relaunches its fertiliser distribution scheme with a new digital monitoring system.

Chief Executive Officer Dr Randy Abbey issued the warning at the relaunch of the Free Fertiliser Distribution Programme in Sefwi Wiawso, Western North Region, as first reported by Citi News.

"The days of diverting inputs meant for our farmers are over," Dr Abbey said, adding that officers, buyers and private individuals involved in such practices would be handled in line with the law.

He said the tracking system had been built to stop favouritism and smuggling and to make sure fertiliser and other agro-inputs end up with the farmers they are meant for.

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Under the arrangement, only registered farmers whose farms have been mapped onto COCOBOD's digital Cocoa Management System (CMS) will be eligible. At distribution points, farmers will have to confirm who they are with their farmer identification cards, Ghana Cards or biometric data, a measure Dr Abbey said was aimed at blocking impersonation and fake beneficiaries.

According to the COCOBOD chief, the system will calculate how much each farmer is entitled to based on the size and state of the farm. Distribution officers will not be able to change the allocations.

Every consignment will be logged digitally as it moves from warehouses to district and community distribution centres, and each bag will be tied to the farmer who collects it. Dr Abbey said this would let officials at district, regional and national level follow distribution as it happens and flag any irregularities for investigation.

"A bag that goes missing now leaves a trail," he said.

He explained that the system responds to long-running complaints that inputs meant for cocoa farmers were being sold on the open market, smuggled across borders or handed to people with connections.

Dr Abbey said the new approach would allow all qualifying farmers, including smallholders, women, the young and the elderly, to receive their share without paying anyone or relying on contacts.

He encouraged farmers whose farms are not yet on the CMS to reach out to their extension officers to be registered and mapped. He also instructed extension officers to make sure every farmer and farm in their districts is captured.

Dr Abbey described the move from a 50 per cent fertiliser subsidy to free supply as a significant change in policy, intended to remove the cost barrier to inputs and raise productivity in the cocoa sector.

COCOBOD Board Chairman Dr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo reaffirmed the government's commitment to making sure cocoa farmers benefit from measures to boost their output and incomes.

The relaunch was held under the theme "Cocoa Sector Reset: Free Fertiliser for Increased Productivity and Improved Farmer Income."