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The Afosu Area
Cocoa Farmers Association in the Birim North District of the Eastern
Region has appealed to the government to institute a pension scheme for
cocoa farmers to free them from poverty in old age. This, according to a
GNA report, could be done by deducting tokens from their sales proceeds
to sustain the scheme.
This is not the
first time the issue about the setting up of pension for cocoa farmers
has been raised. Indeed, it was one of the major campaign promises of
the then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2008 presidential
and parliamentary elections. Nana Addo promised that if Ghanaians voted
for him, he would make sure cocoa farmers also have a pension scheme, as
was being done for those in the formal sector. The now President
Akufo-Addo repeated this promise in the 2012 electioneering campaign,
but, unfortunately, he did not win the two elections.
Nana Addo and his
party (NPP) did not, however, repeat this promise during the campaign
for the 2016 elections. The Chronicle is, therefore, unable to tell
whether the issue has gone off the radar of the President, or he still
has it in mind to establish the pension scheme for the cocoa farmers.
Whatever be the situation, The Chronicle is reminding the President to
revisit the issue, since it would be a cherished legacy that he and his
administration would leave for cocoa farmers in the country, if he is
able to establish the pension scheme for them.
The majority of our
youth are not willing to go into farming, especially cocoa plantations,
as a means of employment, because they see the abject poverty their
fathers and grandfathers have found themselves in at their old age.
Cocoa is the backbone of the economy, and the day the majority of our
farmers decide to pull out from the sector, that will be the end of this
country. Gold, manganese, diamond, bauxite and other mineral wealth of
the country would one day deplete, but the cocoa sector, if well
managed, would be there forever.
Regrettably, it is
an area the youth are now shying away from, because they are not seeing
much improvement in the lives of those who are currently cultivating the
cash crop. In fact, it is pathetic to see some of the cocoa farmers in
their old age. What to eat becomes a problem, because they are no more
having the strength to do farm work. In that situation, they become a
burden on their dependants, who have to struggle to feed and also foot
their medical bills.
All these can be
abated, if the farmer has a pension he or she could rely on after
becoming incapable of going to the farm to work. The Afosu Area Cocoa
Farmers Association has already come out with the modality for the
implementation of the pension scheme. According to them, the government
could deduct tokens from their sales proceeds to sustain the scheme.
Their suggestions may not be the best among the options available, but
if the government appoints the experts, they would come out with the
good advice to ensure the smooth implementation of the scheme.
The idea of coming
out with a pension scheme for cocoa farmers should have been conceived
and implemented a long time ago, and not after 60 solid years of our
independence, but as the adage goes, better late than never. The World
Bank and other Breton Woods Institutions have, over the decades, pumped
billions of dollars into poverty eradication in Ghana, but the majority
of our people are still below the poverty line. The reason is simple:
because of the scanty resources at the disposal of the individual
Ghanaian, the issue of investment becomes a remote option.
But it is our
contention that if the pension scheme for the cocoa farmer is well
implemented, it would help solve the problem the World Bank has taken
years to deal with, because the cocoa farmer would be compelled to save a
portion of his or her income into a special fund that would take care
of him at his old age. Some of the problems confronting Ghana are
surmountable, but because we are not thinking outside the box, it
becomes a Gordian knot for us to untie.
We insist that a
pension scheme for cocoa farmers is a laudable idea that must be
implemented without fail. Our gallant farmers whose sweat has kept the
wheels of our economy running, deserve better care in their old age, and
the time to attend to their plight is now.
President
Akufo-Addo, the Ghanaian cocoa farmers are looking up to you for the
implementation of this good idea, and you must not fail them.
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