THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF BUNSO COCOA COLLEGE INAUGURATED

Date: 08th March 2024

A 12-member Governing Council of the Bunso Cocoa College (BCC) has been inaugurated at Cocoa House in Accra with a mandate to advance sound policies and programmes that will make the college the preferred choice for students desirous of pursuing their dreams in agriculture.

The Governing Council is made up of representatives from, among others, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the University of Cape Coast and is chaired by the Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control, Dr Ebenezer Owusu.

Administering the oath of office, the Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board, Hon Joseph Boahen Aidoo charged them to prioritize the training of students with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to help them find space in the cocoa value chain and other related areas. 

According to the COCOBOD Chief Executive, effective discharge of the Council's functions will go a long way to help develop the country’s cocoa sector by nurturing a new generation of experts who can exploit the potential of cocoa beyond primary cultivation.

He observed that though globally the cocoa industry is worth over $120 Billion, farmers in the upstream, gain only 7%, a development which he said was very regrettable and needed to be reversed.

According to Hon Boahen Aidoo, the downstream operations, including processing, manufacturing, trading and marketing, are central to the sustainability of the sector and stressed that the college must focus on training the needed human resources to take advantage of opportunities within the multi-billion-dollar cocoa industry.

“It is our expectation is that the governing body will roll out more tailor-made training programmes to equip the students with modern skills and knowledge that will make them more useful, particularly in the multi-billion-dollar downstream cocoa value chain”, he emphasized.

He further noted that the BCC has in the past seven years seen massive transformation, adding that the facility, which used to run training programmes for staff of the Board, especially those involved in extension and other technical services from the Cocoa Health & Extension Division (CHED) has now been facelifted to a Diploma Awarding institution and will soon attain the status of a university. 

Touching on the future prospects of Ghana’s cocoa sector, Hon Boahen Aidoo gave the assurance that the country’s cocoa industry will weather the storm even in the midst of daunting global economic and environmental challenges.    

He admitted that though factors such as illegal mining, climate change, the prevalence of the cocoa swollen shoot diseases as well as other global economic challenges like price fluctuations have had a negative impact on the cocoa sector, he was very optimistic that Ghana’s cocoa sector will prevail.      

The Chairman of the Council, Dr. Ebenezer Owusu, acknowledged the onerous task ahead of the Council and pledged that they would work relentlessly to meet the expectations of the Board.

He said the Governing Council would collaborate with all stakeholders to implement policies and programmes that will create a convivial learning environment for students.

Other members of the Council include the Rector of the College, Dr. (Mrs) Mercy Asamoah, Mr. Francis Cudjoe and Dr. Michael Opoku Agyeman-Representatives of the Convocation, Armstrong Kwame Morny and Emmanuella Akosua Asamoah- representatives of the Alumni, and Rev. Prof. Asare Danso- Snr Lecturer (Rtd) of the University of Cape Coast.

The rest are Mr. Yaw Akrofi, Principal Research Scientist (Rtd) CRIG, Dr. (Mrs) Eureka Emefa Ahadjie Adomako, Snr Lecturer, Dept. of Plant and Environment Biology, University of Ghana, Legon. Master Samuel Owusu, is the Students' Representative Council's representative on the Council.