Govt Presents Bill To Parliament For Establishment Of Authority For Four Crops

The Ghanaian government is sponsoring a Bill in Parliament for the establishment of a dedicated Authority for four cash crops.

The Mango, Cashew, Rubber and shea Authority will take over the regulation of the cultivation and export of these tree crops, once established. This will devolve the governance of these crops from the purview of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

Deputy Agric Minister, Dr. Sagre Bambangi made the revelation in an address at the Ghana Rising conference in Accra today.

According to him, the move is intentioned by the government to ensure that the cultivation of these crops is given special attention and farmers are encouraged to produce more.

This he said will reduce Ghana’s over-reliance on cocoa as her main cash crop.

“The issue of relying so much on cocoa as a mono-crop for export is long overdue. And there is the need for us to strengthen our diversification,” Dr. Bmbangi said.

According to him, the Bill will flesh out a governance structure for the four alternative tree crops and thus provide administrative templates for their cultivation and export.

Dr. Sagre however, did not give specific timelines about the passage of the Bill into law but said he expected that it would be passed before the year ends.

“Once a bill is in Parliament, it’s the property of Parliament. And you cannot necessarily estimate the time that it will be out. But we are hoping that it should be out before the end of the year. When it is out, that structure will exist.”