Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is eyeing 800,000 members for its Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme. Launched in March 2023, the programme aims to give cocoa farmers a retirement package. The farmers in the countryâs western region have praised the initiative.
According to board officials who made a round in farming communities in the area, the scheme was long overdue. They said that it would encourage them to work even harder and increase agricultural production.
The visit was to educate farmers on the benefits of joining the scheme. COCOBOD Communications Director Fiifi Boafo explained the conditions for becoming a beneficiary. One such requirement was farmers contributing five per cent of their produce. Meanwhile, the board pays a minimum top-up contribution of one per cent of farmerâs produce.
In addition, the farmersâ contribution will continue until they turn 55 years old, at which time they will receive a lump sum. They will also receive monthly pension benefits for a minimum of 15 years. If a farmer passes before the end of the 15 years, their beneficiaries will continue to benefit from the scheme.
However, there appears to be a problem with the age of âretirementâ. Many farmers in Africa are older people who go into the venture after saving up from working in other sectors or as agric employees themselves. The board recognises the issue and only requires a contribution of five years from cocoa farmers who are over 50 years to benefit from the scheme.
With nearly one-third of its GDP coming from Agricultural exports, Ghana needs more farmers to go into cash crops production, like cocoa. The pension fund will no doubt encourage more farmers to work on increasing yield as they will have something to fall back on when they can no longer be as active as they used to be.
Ghana’s Cocoa Farmers Pension Big Challenge
Convincing cocoa farmers to join the scheme may be harder given the debt exchange plan that the government is working on. In order to secure a loan package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country is trying to convince institutions, including local pension funds, to join a domestic debt exchange plan that will exchange local bonds for new ones maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037.Â
What this means is that pensioners may not be able to access their funds until a later date. Pensioners had protested the move in February 2023 taking their demonstrations to the Finance Ministry building. Although, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta assured citizens that ânothing will be lost, nothing will be missing, and nothing will be brokenâ.
So, the COCOBOD has its work cut out for it in convincing farmers to pitch their tent with them.
