A group of Ghanaian cocoa farmers has formally complained to COCOBOD, urging the organization to address long-standing issues in the sector, including deforestation, child labor, unsafe pesticide practices, and a critical call for the payment of their living allowance.
This complaint is designed to test the grievance mechanism that COCOBOD established as part of its Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), a requirement for securing a $600 million loan from the African Development Bank in 2019.
Thirty farmers are involved, raising concerns that, despite COCOBOD’s oversight, the cocoa industry continues to grapple with these issues, which have affected the sector for over a decade.
The farmers argue that these persistent challenges harm the welfare of cocoa producers and their communities, asserting that COCOBOD’s monitoring and response efforts have not adequately protected them.
The University of Ghana School of Law, Civic Response (a non-profit organization), and the Chicago-based Corporate Accountability Lab are supporting this action.
They seek to bolster accountability within COCOBOD to improve conditions across Ghana’s cocoa industry.
The complaint notes that despite COCOBOD’s sustainability efforts, challenges such as deforestation, limited agroforestry progress, toxic pesticide use, and child labor remain prevalent in Ghana’s cocoa industry.
These issues, the complaint claims, persist due to complex supply chains and low prices from cocoa buyers, calling for substantial change.
Efforts to counter cocoa smuggling have also fallen short, with Ghana losing approximately 120,000 metric tons of cocoa beans to smuggling in 2022-2023, threatening the national economy.
Smuggling has worsened as neighboring countries offer higher prices, intensifying the need for action.
COCOBOD’s ESMS, established in 2018, provides a framework for managing environmental, social, health, and safety risks across its operations, subsidiaries, and partners.
This complaint seeks to hold COCOBOD accountable under this system, emphasizing its duty to safeguard the industry and its workers.
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