Ghana is the second leading producer of cocoa in the world after Côte d’Ivoire.
However, in recent times, engaging in sustainable cocoa farming while mitigating the effects of climate change has been difficult for many farmers to practice, a situation which some fear could affect Ghana’s cocoa production levels.
In line with this, the United Kingdom (UK) which has been supporting some Ghanaian farmers in practising sustainable farming, wants the Ghana government to provide additional livelihood options to farmers in order to promote their resilience against climate change.
During a visit by the UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the Cop26 Presidency who is also the Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, Anne-Marie Trevelyan at a cocoa farm at Kona in the Ashanti region, she stressed the need for cocoa farmers to engage in sustainable practices.
The United Kingdom, UK, has thus been supporting some farmers in the sub-region on the need to adopt best practices.
Speaking to Victoria Duah, West and Central Africa director for the partnership for forest programs funded by the UK government, urged the government of Ghana to support farmers to grow their cocoa in a sustainable manner.
She added that farmers should be provided with additional livelihood options to promote their resilience to climate change.
“I would ask that government provides greater support to farmers to grow their cocoa in a sustainable manner, whilst providing additional livelihood options to these farmers in order to promote their resilience to climate change. Additionally, there should be a greater effort at the community level and at the landscape level to protect forests”.
