Hohoe, March 13, GNA- Mr Isaac Osei, Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), on Wednesday warned cocoa farmers in the Volta region to desist from smuggling the commodity to Togo or lose all government's interventions towards increased production.

He said government would spray the cocoa farms for the last time to "see if the smuggling situation would be stemmed." Mr Osei who was speaking to farmers and other stakeholders in the cocoa industry at Hohoe said the region had recorded a decline in the production of the crop compared with other cocoa growing areas in the country.

He is on a three-day familiarization tour of the region to find solutions to problems facing the cocoa farmers in the region towards the development of the cocoa industry. Mr Osei said only 742 tons of the commodity were accounted for in 2007 despite government interventions such as mass spraying, increased bonuses to cocoa farmers and the provision of hybrid seedlings, to boost production.

He said smuggling was so grave in the region that Lolobi-Kumasi, which produced 2,242 bags of cocoa in the 1999/2000 cropping season, accounted for only 107 bags with Likpe-Kukurantumi area producing 112 bags in 2007 against 980 bags it sold to buying agencies in the 2003/2004 season.

Mr Osei said government was committed to improving the welfare of the farmers and that investment by government needed to be recouped. He said "We cannot keep on spraying cocoa farms while cocoa pods and wet beans continue to vanish like ghosts. Lets get serious." Mr John Peter Amewu, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive said government's support for the cocoa industry was aimed at reducing poverty by creating wealth and job opportunities for the youth and appealed to the people to stop smuggling the commodity. He urged COCOBOB to assist the municipality to fight smuggling in the area.

Nana Adjei Kramo, Chief Cocoa farmer, said prices of cocoa in Ghana and Togo are they same and did not understand why the commodity was being smuggled to Togo.

Mr Osei was accompanied by Mr George Anto-Boateng, Director of Scholarships, Mr Douglas Djabeng, Director of Special Services, Mrs Pauline Adobea Dadzawa, Public Affairs Manager, Mr Vincent Akumeah, Deputy Manager and Volta Regional Managers of Quality Control, Cocoa Swollen Shoot Viral Disease Unit, Produce Buying Company and Seed Production Unit.