The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has announced its intention to cease the construction of cocoa roads after the current ongoing projects are concluded.

COCOBOD had launched the Cocoa Road Programme with the aim of addressing transportation challenges related to delivering agro-inputs to cocoa farmers and facilitating the evacuation of cocoa beans.

Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the CEO, revealed during the 50th Anniversary Celebration Symposium of the Cocoa Clinic that this change in policy is a result of discussions with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Both of these entities, he explained, had raised questions about COCOBOD's involvement in road construction and suggested a focus on its core functions instead.

"The EU sent a team last year to do due diligence on sustainable production and when they came, they wanted to know why COCOBOD was involved in cocoa roads construction because it is not a core business of COCOBOD, and they insisted that we take that venture out of our equation; and, of course, the IMF is also saying the same thing".

"They say that we can continue with what we are currently constructing and not start new ones", Mr Boahen said.

In order to improve farmers' access to healthcare, he also described plans for building healthcare facilities in cocoa-growing areas, noting instances of farmers having to travel far for care as motivation.

"I have had the experience where a woman, who was in labour and couldn't deliver, had to be carried in a hammock and travelled over 28 kilometres and couldn't survive.

"And, when we look at the countryside to see how our cocoa farmers struggle to access health delivery, you will be touched to do something; and that is why, as an institution, it is important to bring health services and facilities as close to these farmers as possible".