Chief Executive Isaac Osei with President Kufuor on a recent visit to Cocobod

Ghana is known not just for the quantity of its cocoa production – only Cote d’Ivoire produces more – but also for the high quality of its beans. “The Ghana cocoa bean is different from any other,” says Isaac Osei, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod). “The quality is higher, which is why the market pays a higher premium.”

He emphasises that Ghana will never compromise on maintaining the standard expected of its cocoa. “We do our best to ensure that every bag of cocoa beans that leaves this country is of the very best quality,” he declares.

Although state-owned, Cocobod is run as a corporate entity, according to Mr Osei. “Government interference is practically nil,” he says. Currently in its 60th year, the industry regulator is working towards raising cocoa production to one million tons per year by 2010.

The effectiveness of its efforts was manifest in a record crop of 740,457 tons in 2005/2006. Unfavourable weather conditions reduced the 2006/2007 crop to 614,469 tons. However, increased financial incentives have been announced for farmers, licensed buyers and transporters in order to boost the 2007/2008 harvest, which is projected at 650,000 tons.

The strength of Cocobod’s reputation in international financial circles is indicated by its successful sourcing of a record trade finance facility of $900 million for cocoa purchases this year. Its recent bid to secure a $150 million medium-term facility to modernise and expand quality assurance and warehousing was over-subscribed by more than 33 per cent.

Mr Osei says the production target of one million tons will be achieved through productivity-enhancing schemes, modernisation and expansion of logistics, and improvement in quality assurance systems. “We have focused on long-term planning,” he explains. “This includes upscaling the production of cocoa in Ghana not through expansion but through increased yield by applying appropriate technology, improved agronomic practices, support for farmers and proper application of pesticides and fungicides.”

While cocoa is Cocobod’s prime concern, it is by no means its only one. It also buys, processes and markets coffee and sheanuts. Mr Osei points out that there are more food crops cultivated in the cocoa growing areas than cocoa itself, and echoes the government’s commitment to diversity. “We want our farmers to look at other crops,” he says. “We do not want a mono-crop culture in Ghana.”