Akroso (E/R), Aug. 11, GNA - Mr Akenten Osei Wiafe, District Cocoa Officer (DCO) for Akroso, in the Birim Central Municipality has called on Cocoa farmers to take advantage of the Capitation Grant to send their children to school.

Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Akroso on Monday, Mr Wiafe said there were many avenues opened to farmers to enable them assist their children to acquire education and cited the Cocoa Marketing Board scholarship as one of such avenues. Touching on child labour, Mr Wiafe expressed regret that farmers in that part of the Oda Cocoa District were still using their children on their cocoa farms as labourers. He urged the farmers to invest in their children's education than spend their moneys on funerals. He was disturbed about the quality of the cocoa beans produced by some farmers in the area and therefore advised them to endeavour to go through the process of fermentation of the beans before drying them thoroughly. Mr Wiafe said for the country to continue to sell its cocoa beans at a premium price, there was the need for farmers to thoroughly dry the beans, so as to achieve the needed quality. He noted that past years, Oda and its surrounding towns and villages could boast of high cocoa production in the Eastern Region, whereas the trend had declined due to the swollen shoot disease and therefore, appealed to them the farmers cooperate in the treatment of the virus, by agreeing to cut down the affected trees.