The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee,Isaac Yaw Opoku, has called for a review of a provision in the new cocoa legislation that restricts the destruction, uprooting or sale of cocoa trees without government approval.

Opoku, who is also the Member of Parliament forOffinso South, said the provision could create practical difficulties for cocoa farmers because removing, pruning and thinning cocoa trees are routine aspects of cocoa farming.

Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (10 August), he said the opposition to the provision was not against the passage of the cocoa legislation itself, but against the manner in which it was passed without adequate stakeholder consultation.

“We support the bill 100%, but we are not happy with the manner in which it was passed in haste, particularly clause 81,” he said.

Clause 81, according to Mr Opoku, provides that a person shall not destroy, uproot, damage or sell a cocoa tree except for purposes of rehabilitation approved by the government.

He said the provision could become difficult to enforce, particularly where farmers need to urgently remove diseased trees.

“If you have an infected cocoa tree, like Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus, the longer you wait, the danger it will be for the whole farm to become affected,” he said.

Opoku said farmers should not be required to wait for an approval process before removing an infected tree, arguing that delays could allow diseases to spread across an entire farm.

He also raised concerns about farmers whose land could no longer support cocoa production because of depleted soil nutrients, climate-related pressures or other factors.

He said such farmers should be able to repurpose their land without being subjected to an unnecessarily burdensome approval process.

Opoku also criticised the requirement for cocoa farms to be registered before farmers can commercially produce, purchase or sell cocoa.

He said the registration exercise began in 2019 but had not yet covered all cocoa farmers.

“We have over 800,000 households. We have registered more than 700,000,” he said.

He argued that the registration requirement should only become enforceable after all cocoa farmers and their farms had been registered.

Opoku said the NPP also wanted greater clarity on the proposed 70 percent share of cocoa proceeds and how cocoa would be sold to local processors.

He further opposed a provision that would create licences covering a range of activities in the cocoa sector, particularly external marketing and exports.

According to him, transferring cocoa export and external marketing activities to a new licensing arrangement could weaken Ghana’s bargaining position with international buyers.

He called for the President to return the bill to Parliament for further consideration and amendments.