The Member of Parliament for Walewale, Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama, has described the challenges facing cocoa farmers as a national emergency and called on Parliament to stop politicising the issue.
Speaking in Parliament on February 17, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker said more than one million cocoa farmers are struggling to survive due to ongoing difficulties in the sector.
“I rise with heavy heart and a bit disappointed. A bit disappointed in the sense that over one million farmers are suffering as we speak now. But this house has been turned into politics. I am disappointed because these farmers fail to make ends meet every day,” he said.
Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, and the crop remains a major source of foreign exchange and rural employment. However, the sector has faced falling production, smuggling, price volatility on the international market, and financial challenges within the cocoa industry.
Dr. Mahama said the crisis affects the entire country and should not be treated as a regional matter.
“This is not a southern issue… it’s a national issue. We are facing a national emergency,” he said.
He urged both sides of the House to handle the matter with urgency and seriousness.
“So when we come to this house to discuss it, I will appeal to this side and I’ll appeal to their side to handle this issue with seriousness and we shouldn’t do politics with this issue,” he added.
The MP also warned that Ghana risks falling victim to the “resource curse,” a situation where resource-rich countries fail to benefit fully from their natural wealth.
“It cannot be right that Ghana is not getting it right when it comes to our gold and our cocoa. It cannot be right that we’re selling gold and making losses and we’re selling cocoa and making losses,” he said.
According to him, strategic decisions in the cocoa sector have worsened the situation. He questioned why large quantities of cocoa were left unsold while government officials expected prices to rise.
“How do you make your cocoa prices spot price when you know that your market is a foreign market? How do you take a decision as a government to assume that prices are going to increase, and you leave over 70,000 tons of cocoa in the hands of the farmers and you don’t export or sell that, then when prices are crashing you want to blame people,” he said.
He also questioned the government’s responsibility to protect farmers’ livelihoods.
“If you cannot protect the farmers what is the essence of government?” he asked.
