Per Ghana's 2020 Budget, the following points are mostly copied verbatim, with some paraphrasing. [My comments are presented in brackets and boldface.] 1. Statistics from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) indicate that world market cocoa price for the first 10 months of 2019 averaged US$2,312.45 per tonne. [this is not what farmers are paid. Secondly, why is Africa allowing the ICCO set prices? You can be certain the ICCO represents the buyers and not the sellers, the consumers and not the producers, Europeans and not Africans.] 2. [Despite what I said above, Ghana and Ivory Coast have] implemented a floor price and premium price for Ghana’s cocoa on the global market, as well as inflow from the cocoa syndicated loan, is expected to further bolster inflows of foreign exchange in the outlook. [you should have asked, why is there a cocoa loan? Secondly we shall see how a “floor price” and “premium price” are reflected in 2020 financial reports and in the 2021 budget. It is reported that the floor price is $2,600 per ton. The Ghanaian news article is unclear about an additional $400 and a premium price. The video is also unclear. This is by design to not simply raise the asking price and say how much the farmers are going to get. If the floor is 2600 and there is an additional 400, then is the floor $3,000 per ton? Furthermore, it is ridiculous for Africa to allow ICCO rules to govern how they farm. Do we tell other countries how to produce the items we import?] 3. Loan Syndication - For the 2018/19 crop year, an amount of US$1.3 billion was raised in the syndicated loan market at a margin of LIBOR plus 60 basis points [total rate of 2.4% to 3%]. The loan was raised to fund cocoa purchasing operations and support other key activities in the cocoa sector. [Ghana does not have enough cash flow to buy the cacao from the farmers or carry out government promised functions for the cacao industry, thus they have to borrow money to buy their own cacao before they can sell it. They should ask buyers to pay in advance based on last year's or expected amount desired to purchase. Everything is negotiable, but not everything is agreeable] 4. COCOBOD [Cocoa Board] repaid the US$1.3 billion syndicated loan ahead of schedule in July instead of August 2019 as stipulated under the terms of the facility due to prudent financial management. [“prudent financial management' is a hilarious assertion, even you don't have any money anywhere in your government to buy cacao from your farmers] 5. [The Cocoa Board is a government agency. Their website is deficient in information. They have also obviously failed in educating farmers and in being knowledgeable to oversee the industry in the best interests of Ghanaians.] 6. The Cocoa Board is appointed by the Government and falls under the Minister of Food and Agriculture. 7. The Government has had to forfeit its share of the Free On Board (FOB) price (in export duty payments) for the second year running due to the low price received for cacao. 8. The cacao crop year runs from October 1 thru September 20. The price paid to farmers per ton was increased from $1,400 per ton ($88 per bag) to $1,518 per ton ($95 per bag). [Somehow the government thinks that with this extra $120 per ton ($7 per bag) that this is enough to ] motivate farmers and land owners will be motivated to keep producing cocoa rather than convert their land to other crops that the government calls short-term and less sustainable sources of income. [the government obviously uses this language to scare farmers even though cacao farming as practiced by all involved is clearly not sustainable. Also, the government Joseph should go to the farms and buy the cacao directly from the farmers and employ the middlemen at a fixed transport price to the warehouse. All they are doing is basic transport service, thus should not benefit from the value of the goods being transported] 9. To further boost farmer incomes and sustain interest in cocoa production, COCOBOD is borrowing US$600 million to be repaid over seven years. This money is for the implementation of Productivity Enhancement Programmes (PEPs) and other initiatives. [isn't this a supremely stupid idea to take out more loans when you can't even pay for the “cocoa syndicated loan” with borrowing money on a short-term basis. We can be certain that a lot of the programs the government operates in any sector benefits foreigners. Secondly who pays the salaries of the Cocoa Board? Is is graft and bribes from foreign cocoa buyer? If the Cocoa Board is going to take out a loan to raise farmer income then just give them the money or pay their expenses or pay them more. Why spend the money by giving it to other people to teach farmers. The farmers can't eat teaching. Especially the kind of non-holistic teaching that permeates the government.] 10. The PEPs include rehabilitation, cutting and replanting of diseased and moribund farms, irrigation programme during the dry season, hand pollination to compensate for loss of yield from the cut out areas, farmer database to enhance policy formulation and improvement in warehousing capacity to take care of the expected high yield from the cumulative effects of the PEPs. As production increases, improved processing capacity of indigenous local processors will be enhanced to manage the impact of high production on price. It is estimated that additional 20,000 jobs will be created when the full complement of the PEPs is rolled out. [the jobs are good but shortsighted. The programs mentioned do not address the need for sustainable farming using multiple crops and animals in a self-sustaining way. Why spend money on pollinating when there are insects and animals that will do it for free? Where is the development of streams of income from every part of the trees and pods and cacao white pulpy flesh?] 11. Promoting cocoa consumption locally and externally as part of PEPs. Cocoa drink as part of the menu for the School Feeding Programme is being implemented at the basic, junior and senior high school institutions. This is expected to enable our young children develop the taste for cocoa with its enormous nutritional benefits including early childhood and enhance cognitive development. COCOBOD in conjunction with the Ministry of Trade and Industry embarked on initiatives to seek market expansion in Asia, particularly in the Chinese market. [market expansion is good, but will be wasted if the price is not determined by demand rather than ICCO, COCOBOD] 12. As part of the policy to promote industrialization, more cocoa processing is being sought to add value to the product and create jobs. [this must not be used to not demand higher prices for raw cacao nuts, which are by themselves highly valuable] In this regard, COCOBOD initiated policies to incentivise the private sector to set up processing factories to add value to the raw cocoa beans. A revolving working capital funding support to qualified local processors is being worked out. [not sure where this money is coming from, certainly not the bank of ghana nor the national investment bank which are government-owned.] 13. On 02-09-20 an email was sent to bogsecretary@bog.gov.gh, Subject: Bank Information, Text: Based on your website, it is not readily clear who owns the Bank of Ghana. Please provide information. 14. To help modernise Ghana’s Cocoa Sector and improve farmers’ income through increased productivity of farms, an efficient cost-effective supply of free hybrid cocoa seedlings to farmers currently being implemented will continue. 15. The compensation scheme for affected farmers under the rehabilitation scheme was reviewed. The reviewed scheme takes into consideration the land tenure system of a particular area. In this respect, land owners as well as tenant farmers are being paid compensation for the cutting and replanting of diseased farms to prevent the conversion of cocoa farm lands for other competing purposes. [the rehabilitation scheme ignores the fact that if cacao was fairly priced, thus made worthwhile, there would be no need for these types of schemes that continue to misdirect and waste resources and apply them to the end of the process so farmers can rebuild farms and continue farming under an unfairly priced system] 16. Cocoa Mass Spraying and Hi-Tech [this is the solution to deal with diseases, pests and fertilization, rather than circular ecosystem organic integrative farming that balances itself and feeds itself. I'm not sure how spraying poison is healthy.] 17. Artificial Pollination - COCOBOD continued with the hand pollination programme for increased flower production. COCOBOD hired and trained 30,000 people to hand pollinate 72,000 hectares of cocoa farms. 18. Cocoa Farm Irrigation and Mass Pruning - To assist cocoa farmers to minimize the damaging effect of the dry weather on cocoa production, COCOBOD in partnership with the private sector rolled out the cocoa farms irrigation scheme during the 2018/19 cocoa crop year. A total of 22 farmers’ farms and three Seed Production Divisions (SPD) were irrigated. A number of boreholes under construction will be fitted with irrigation equipment and made operational in 2019/2020 towards the improvement of cocoa yields. This is part of Government’s agenda to modernise the cocoa sector and ensure all year-round crop production.[it would be more efficient to bring in a bunch of mulch to preserve moisture and feed the soil and enhance biodiversity of plants and insects] 19. Mass pruning of cocoa farms was identified as a key agronomic practice which substantially improves farm health and boosts the production capacity of cocoa trees. 20. Farm and Farmer Identification - COCOBOD initiated processes to develop an integrated cocoa farmer database to help shape policy in the cocoa sector through the provision of reliable data on cocoa farms, farmers and all related activities in the cocoa industry. During the 2018/2019 crop year, data collection on the field began with the objective of registering cocoa farmers biometrically. [biometric registration should be avoided] 21. Job Creation in Cocoa – Through programs such as rehabilitation, replanting, mass spraying, fertilizer application, hand pollination, mass pruning, cocoa farm irrigation and farmer database implementation, an estimated 105,350 jobs will be made available in line with the objective of Government to direct youthful energies into productive ventures in the cocoa sector, stem rural-urban migration and improve livelihoods across the country. 22. Cocoa Roads - $92 million was spent on cocoa roads in 2018 and $101 million in 2019. $84 million is planned for 2020. This is to ease cocoa evacuation from the hinterlands to the takeover centers and improve livelihoods in the cocoa farming areas. 23. Farmers Support Schemes - Mr. Speaker, COCOBOD’s Scholarship Trust Fund, the Child Education Support Programme and the support for the elimination of worst forms of Child Labour continued in the 2018/19 crop year. [where is this money coming from? Probably another loan.] 24. COCOBOD made a budgetary allocation of GH¢2.74 million to support the continuing students of farmers’ wards who are on COCOBOD’s scholarship. COCOBOD is also collaborating with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to continue with initiatives aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour. For the 2019/2020 financial year, a provision of GH¢5 million is allocated for the Child Education Support Programme. [this is a typical trick learned from Europeans to allow something to be stolen then to come back around and offer something for free as a way to solve the problem without solving the problem] 25. Coffee and Shea Programme – The COCOBOD has its hands in these two industries. Similar to the cacao plan, part of the coffee plan is to give free seedlings. Why not focus on telling the farmers to plant some of their cacao and coffee seeds each year to have a steady supply of trees maturing.] Coffee farmers will continue to enjoy free extension support services to enhance their farming activities. 26. A scientific breakthrough was achieved to reduce the gestation period of the shea plant from 20 years to an average of 3 years. Scientific research on the shea plant is being supported by Government as part of efforts to make shea a reliable income generating produce for the numerous industry workers in its catchment area. 27. COCOBOD moved the Head office of the shea sub-sector to Tamale to facilitate and monitor shea activities in the North. A Shea regulatory body is being established with its own sources of funding [this mean foreigners are encouraging this and offering loans so they can get more shea nuts and butter to sell to the world and make the shea farmers as poor as the cacao farmers] 28. The earnings from cocoa beans and products exports totaled US$1.6 billion compared to US$1,569.8 million in 2018. The average realized export price was $2,988.0 per metric ton in 2018 and $2,940.9 in 2019 [$1.33 per pound]. [a metric ton is 1,000 kilograms (2,205 lb).] 29. Exports of cocoa beans, however, declined by 5.4 percent from US$1,005.5 million to US$951.8 million, driven largely by a significant 12.6 percent reduction in export volume from 466,756 metric tons to 407,779 metric tons. Average realized price, however, increased by 8.3 percent from US$2154.5 per metric ton to US$2,334.2 per metric ton.[not sure of difference in this note and the one directly above. Also there are no sales taxes on cocoa exports. I hope there are port fees and other fees to cover the costs of delivering beans to port and other services] 30. [From the financial statement] Cocoa as percent of GDP was 3.7% in 2018; 5.4% in 2019; and is projected to be 1.3% in 2020; and then average 2% for 2021 – 2023. 31. Nominal (Market Value) GDP is 68 Billion for 2019 per page 269. [Nominal GDP is the market value at the time of the transaction. sometimes GDP is stated as real GDP, which means it is adjusted for inflation, thus then, inflation is not real, it is manufactured as an artificial construct. Real GDP makes for a “realistic” comparison between two or more time periods. Lastly when we hear the word GDP, we should be asking if they are talking about Nominal GDP or Real GDP] 32. Balance of payments for Cocoa beans & Cocoa products is approx 2.12 billion for 2019, [seems like this should equal sales price unless some cocoa products are imported, which they likely are] 33. [On a related note, ]to enhance market access, the National Buffer Stock Company was revitalized to facilitate the procurement, storage and distribution of the increased crop production. Five warehouses were rehabilitated. An additional 80 warehouses will be completed by the end of the year to provide storage facilities for fertilizer, improved seeds and strategic stocks of grains. This allows the National Buffer Stock to be used for the School Feeding Programme, the Free Senior High School Programme, Prisons, Police and others. 34. In 2020 on the basis of the successes chalked so far, Government will continue to supply organic and inorganic fertilizers and improved seeds to about 1.2 million farmers. The seeds and fertilizer interventions are expected to significantly increase the production of maize, rice, soya, sorghum, cowpea, groundnut, cassava, sweet potato and assorted vegetables. In addition, government will continue to maintain surveillance to keep pests under control to ensure food security. Furthermore, enhanced extension services will be provided to farmers to improve adoption of new technologies and increase on-farm productivity.[It's time to practice seed saving from the best fruits and vegetables, at least twice of many seeds should be saved as will be planted the next year] My Additional Note: Please understand that no country's Government Budget is audited by an independent outside agency. But they should be. Governments should be held accountable by watchdog groups who have the expertise to audit any area of the government's operations. Small and rare exceptions would have to be made for certain kinds of information. Plus some information would only be available to certain outsiders who are vetted and held to the highest confidentiality under penalty of permanent imprisonment for any breach of trust. When searching several websites for Ghana's government agencies, including the office of the president, minister of education, minister of the interior, minister of finance, parliament, register general and others - - none of them had links to each other or to the main website and I have not found a page that lists all departments as an organization chart. The government is fragmented, thus a big part of the problem to foster stupidity of the highest order and help hide corruption. The amount of waste of resources is clearly a problem and must be enormous. It was not even possible to find on the minister of education website whether basic education was free or secondary education was free. The answers to a lot of basic questions could not be found on these sites.
Encountered this video less than 6 hours later
See PNP: All about the man whose 140-year-old farm is still making Ghana rich - Tetteh Quarshie's story.One of the thoughts that came to me was that the way the Cocoa Board is currently miseducating farmers is by getting them to all adopt the same hybrid species of cocoa tree. This is dangerous due to lack of diversity of genetics. Without a range of species, one set of unfavorable conditions can negatively impact the entire country's crops. Secondly trees grow new trees when they are dying. Also, is it possible to grow trees from cuttings? Seeds planted will sprout in 3 weeks. Several methods could be used to continuously replenish tree stocks. The original trees are stronger and longer lasting than the hybrids and those from Ambazonia that have shorter lifespans and might possibly not be able to regenerate from roots. Or perhaps its the farming methods that are unwilling to wait for that to happen naturally. It appears the latter two species have been engineered to produce bigger pods at the expense of the lifetime of the tree. Although the farm in the video has a diversity of plants along with the cacao trees, they do participate in the government spraying programming which occurs 30 times per season spraying poison to control diseases. I wonder what they did before there was spraying and how did those original trees survive. When and why are diseases now such a big problem? Is it when the other species were introduced and intermingled? Do those trees attract other organisms that are not balanced by their predators because those predators were not also imported to maintain the balance? Spraying poison makes you wonder what is the impact on the other plants and crops on the cacao farm and on the chickens and on the people, and of course, how much of the poison makes it into the cocoa pod, pulp and seed? This farmer says their farm is about 0.38 hectares (1 acre) and a bag of cocoa is 64 kg which brings 500 cedis ($93). , or 7,813 cedis per metric ton ($1,447 per ton) or 67 cents per pound ($8 cedis per kilogram). This farm produces about one 64 kg bag for each of the three harvests. Not sure how many harvests are possible with farms that are mainly the other two species. Does their larger sized cocoa pods limit the number of harvests also in addition to the life of the tree and its viability to withstand diseases? I am curious to know if fermentation is necessary merely for color? What is the difference in color and taste of an unfermented dried seed and a fermented dried seed? Or is the goal to also poison us through chocolate? Must be! What other reason is there except treason? 35. 02.17.20 Update – compare the price of cacao in Africa to the price Mexican farmers are receiving for avocados, a product that requires no post harvest labor. Avocados are worth $6,50 per 2.2 pounds or $3 per pound. This is at least 4 times the value paid to cacao farmers which is why all the profits are made upstream as usual, but this is just extremely out of line. Good for the farmers in Mexico but I wonder how much profit is made upstream?
