Following President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launch of a pension scheme for the country’s cocoa farmers, the President of the Concerned Farmers Association of Ghana, Nana Oboadie Boateng Opambour has welcomed the new scheme, but says an independent body with strong representation from cocoa farmers needs to manage the scheme to ensure it succeeds.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the promised pension scheme, Nana Oboadie Boateng Opambour said the new scheme should reverse the current trend where the youth is eschewing farming in general.
“This one is going to even encourage the youth to get into the cocoa sector because they know that unlike the past, they will at the very least receive some pension like other workers in the formal sectors. The critical thing, however, is we are going to manage and manage it well. We need an independent body to ensure this scheme succeeds.”
Akufo-Addo launches pension scheme for cocoa farmers
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 1st December 2020, launched a pension scheme for the country’s 1.5 million cocoa farmers.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “the Pension Scheme will enable cocoa farmers to make voluntary contributions towards their retirement, whilst COCOBOD makes a supplementary contribution on behalf of the farmers as well.”
This, he explained, “guarantees a decent retirement income for cocoa farmers for life, and ensures that they can maintain decent livelihoods after retirement.”
Launching the pension scheme at the Jubilee Park in Kumasi, as part of his 3-day tour of the Ashanti Region, President Akufo-Addo said millions of cocoa farmers across the country who are responsible for the production of a crop, that has, for over a century, been the mainstay of the economy of the country will benefit from the scheme.