The Coconut Farmers Association of Ghana (CoFAG) has called on the government of Ghana and other relevant stakeholders for support to enable members to expand their farms. That, according to the association, would make it possible for its members to employ more workers and generate funds for themselves and the country as a whole.
National Vice-President of the association, Mr Bismark Gyeeku who made the appeal noted the specific areas of support requested are funding, extension services and a vehicle to undertake the association’s activities. He stated that although ranked 14th on the list of the world’s top coconut producers in 2017, with 383,960 tonnes, the industry in Ghana is being drawn back by such challenges.
He further explained that most often extension officers who made coconut seedlings available to the association had little knowledge about coconut cultivation so the government should support the association to train its own extension officers to assist them.
Planting materials
He said apart from coconut providing food security and foreign exchange earnings, it also served as raw material for the pharmaceutical and beverage industry. Mr Gyeeku also stated that inadequate planting materials such as seedlings and organic fertiliser were negatively affecting their, while galamsey operators were also destroying the land meant for coconut cultivation.
He, nonetheless, noted that the association on its own was reviving the coconut industry through institutional and organisational capacity strengthening, the establishment of a competitive market on the value chain and the creation of employment for the youth in both the rural and urban centres.
The Eastern Regional Director of the Agriculture, Mr Henry Kobina Crentsil Jr, encouraged more women to also go into coconut cultivation, since it would help them get income to take good care of their families.
 has called on the government for support to enable members to expand their farms.){kind=link}