The Ghana Cocoa Board has cautioned cocoa farmers in the country to desist from undermining the industry by using children to work on their farms saying, cocoa is the backbone of Ghana.
This was made known at a press conference by the Director of Public Affairs of Ghana Cocoa Board, Mr. Fiifi Boafo in connection with Joy News documentary titled “Children In Cocoa Labour.
Mr. Boafo said the issue of child labour mentioned in the documentary is very serious and of great national interest hence, the need to organize the press conference to address it.
He further said in the briefing that as the regulator of Ghana’s cocoa industry, Ghana Cocoa Board is very much interested in sustainability and has adopted a policy of zero tolerance of Child Labour as an important component of cocoa sustainability.
Mr Fiifi Boafo indicated, Cocobod takes very seriously any report which portrays a child of school-going age as having engaged in activities on a cocoa farm that could be construed as child labour
We and the Government have taken a strong stance against child labour of any kind and condemn any act which undermines the efforts aimed at ensuring sustainability in the cocoa industry
Mr. Fiifi Boafo further disclosed that, any case of child labour has a negative impact on the reputation of the country on the international stage added that fortunately, the incidents of children working in cocoa farms are not common practices in Ghana’s cocoa industry.
Ordinarily, one will not see farmers openly engaged in such practices when one visits our cocoa communities and that is a testament to the fact that our sensitization efforts and interventions are yielding good results.
By: Isaac Clottey
