Some cocoa farmers in Ghana have lodged a formal complaint with COCOBOD, urging swift action to address longstanding issues such as deforestation, child labor, unsafe pesticide use, and the crucial matter of their living allowance.
This collective action is supported by the University of Ghana School of Law, Civic Response, a non-profit organization, and the Chicago-based Corporate Accountability Lab. Their goal is to bring greater accountability to COCOBOD and improve conditions in Ghana’s cocoa industry.
The 30 farmers involved in the complaint aim to hold COCOBOD accountable by testing a grievance mechanism that the regulator established as a condition for securing a $600 million loan from the African Development Bank in 2019.
The farmers also request that the power to appoint the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD be vested in COCOBOD itself, ensuring that the interests of farmers are prioritized.
“Despite efforts to improve environmental sustainability and social well-being within COCOBOD projects, major issues persist. Deforestation, an inadequately paced shift to agroforestry, the excessive use of harmful and toxic pesticides and other chemicals, and hazardous child labor are mainstays of the cocoa industry in Ghana, many of which persist at least in part because of opaque supply chains and the low price cocoa companies pay for cocoa. All of this must change,” the complaint states.
Despite concerted efforts by COCOBOD and other governmental agencies to address the growing trend of cocoa smuggling, little progress has been made in curbing the illicit trade. Ghana lost an alarming 120,000 metric tons of cocoa beans to smuggling between 2022 and 2023. This significant loss poses a major threat to Ghana’s cocoa industry, a vital sector of the national economy.
The smuggling of cocoa beans, a long-standing issue in Ghana, appears to have worsened in recent years, driven largely by the allure of favorable prices in neighboring countries.
In 2018, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) established an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that includes a grievance and redress mechanism. The ESMS seeks to provide a structured framework for identifying and managing potential environmental, social, health, and safety risks, impacts, and opportunities of all operations in the cocoa sector.
The ESMS and the grievance and redress mechanism apply to COCOBOD, its subsidiaries and divisions, productivity-enhancing programs, projects and activities, contractors, service providers, consultants, and parties associated with any of the operations of the Board.
By Eric Bekoe
