PURCHASING CLERKS, DISTRICT OFFICERS, OTHERS TRAINED ON COCOA PURCHASE AND LBC DEPOT APPLICATIONS

Date: 12th December 2023

About 900 Purchasing Clerks, Depot Keepers and District Officers of the various LBCs in New Edubiase in the Ashanti Region have been sensitized and trained on the Cocoa Purchase Application and LBC Depot Application.

The Cocoa Purchase App and the LBC Depot App are components of the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS) which will enable smooth electronic transactions between the Cocoa Farmers, PCs, Depot Keepers and the Take Over Centers across the country.

The introduction of the Purchase App and the LBC Depot App will help management of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) comply with the European Union (EU) Due Diligence Act (Child Labour and Deforestation) to enable continuous trading of Ghana’s cocoa on the European Market.

Addressing the participants, the project coordinator, Mr. Kwame Osei Owusu explained that the Apps will help digitize and streamline the activities of the License Buying Companies (LBCs) across the country.

“The Apps will help reduce the use of paper and pen in the system, therefore every sale made, every tonne of cocoa weighed at the shed can be sent directly from the app to your main office in Accra, Kumasi or wherever your head office is located”, he said.

Mr. Osei further added that, the introduction of the app will enable management of COCOBOD have comprehensive data of every transaction made between PCs and farmers and help run a more transparent operation with its stakeholders along the value chain and also on the international market.

“The Apps are very powerful tools, whatever transaction made in the process of buying and selling of cocoa can be easily tracked, knowing where it was done and the LBCs involved, can also be determined by Management in Accra, so don’t underestimate the App”, he emphasized.

In terms of accountability, Mr. Osei stated that, the apps will help monitor all activities performed by the various LBCs across the country, which will help the Board determine the amount of cocoa purchased by each LBC and also inform the Board of any future support to the LBCs.

Mr. Osei also reiterated management’s commitment to ensure that the sector receives a massive lift in technologies in the daily operations of all players along the value chain to make it more convenient and sustainable. He further encouraged participants to take the training seriously since it is the order of the day.

“Every cocoa-producing country in the world is advancing, Ghana also needs to advance, so please take it seriously and learn to make it more attractive to the youth and anyone who wants to venture into cocoa farming”, he encouraged.

Over 18,000 farmers are expected to be sensitized on the innovation.