Cocoa Production and Incentives: Assessing the Relationship Between Cocoa Purchasing Clerks and Farmers in Rural Ghana

Not much is known about the role Cocoa Purchasing Clerks (CPCs) play to sustain the cocoa production in rural areas in Ghana. Therefore, this study investigated the various roles the cocoa purchasing clerks play on their own or on behalf of the Licensed Buying Ccompanies (LBCs) towards cocoa farmer activities to sustain cocoa production. Using the purposive and snowball sampling methods, 18, comprising of 16 from cocoa farm households and 2 purchasing clerks, were interviewed in the East Akim Municipality, a popular rural cocoa-growing area in Ghana. The analysis broadly centres on the dynamics of the relationship between the LBCs and farmers and the challenges that accompanied it. The themes generated under the relationship were sticking to LBCs on convenience and reliability, sticking to LBCs on the basis of strong family and generational ties, agreements between farmers and LBCs, and benefits and opportunities in the incentivisation relationship. Those generated under the challenges were delays in payment to farmers by CPCs and suspicion of the use of dishonest scales by CPCs to buy cocoa beans. A better relationship will enhance cocoa productivity, but the challenges if not addressed could worsen the relationship. The study recommends the cocoa LBCs visit cocoa communities to ensure clerks give the farmers their expected bonuses. Also, purchasing clerks should provide essential farm inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers among others that would directly increase cocoa production rather than consumables. They should provide cocoa farmers credits (cash) to prefinance their farming activities during the off season of cocoa, to maintain their farms and enhance productivity. Finally, Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Board should relook at the modalities of the relationship between LBCs and farmers to entrench mutual benefits.