Newly appointed Acting Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Randy Abbey, has pledged to restore the country’s declining cocoa production while ensuring that cocoa farmers remain at the center of policy decisions.
Speaking in an interview with Channel TV monitored by MyNewsGH, Abbey emphasized his commitment to hard work, strong leadership, and team-building to execute the president’s vision for the cocoa sector.
“The president’s vision is really to put the cocoa farmer at the center of everything,” he stated. “We are going to engage them, listen more, and implement solutions together. We believe we can turn things around.”
Ghana’s cocoa production has seen a significant decline, falling from about one million metric tons to below 500,000 metric tons. Abbey identified key challenges, including ageing farms, disease outbreaks, smuggling, and the adverse effects of illegal mining on cocoa-growing areas.
“We’re looking at all these issues critically,” he explained. “National Security has already swung into action to curb smuggling, and we are developing a strategy to address aging farms and improve yields.”
Despite the challenges, Abbey remains optimistic. “This is not the time to open the book of Lamentations,” he remarked. “We have been placed in this position to fix the problems, and that is exactly what we intend to do.
