A cocoa farmers pension scheme for farmers was yesterday launched here by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In pursuit of Section 26 of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Law, 1984 (PNDC L.81), which mandates COCOBOD to establish a contributory insurance for cocoa farmers, the government, in collaboration with COCOBOD and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), set up the scheme.

It is open to all cocoa farmers in the country to make contributions toward their retirement while COCOBOD makes a supplementary contribution on their behalf.

To ensure the successful roll-out of the scheme, COCOBOD has begun the collection of data of farmers for the Cocoa Management System, which would hold a database of all cocoa farmers in the country and track their contributions.

According to the President, the scheme was aimed at rejuvenation of diseased and overaged farmers and activities meant for productivity enhancement, including pruning, hand pollination and irrigation of cocoa farms. He recalled making a solemn pledge to cocoa farmers in 2016 that if he won that election, he would establish the scheme.

According to the President, successive governments, for various reasons, were unable to fulfil the establishment of the scheme much to the chagrin of cocoa farmers. “But”, he said, “what we are seeing today is just not fulfilment of the law but also [an act] in line with government’s plan to improve the living standards of cocoa farmers.”

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