Cocoa buying companies and farmer unions are being forced to adopt technological strategies to safeguard the lives of cocoa purchasing clerks from attacks by armed men.
Robbers continue to target purchasing clerks in cocoa-growing communities in parts of Ghana, sometimes resulting in the loss of lives.
The latest incident is the killing of the Tepa District Manager of Kuapa Kooko Limited by some unknown gunmen who stormed a cocoa depot where the deceased was working.
Managers of the company say they will introduce electronic payment systems to ensure Cocoa purchasing clerks do not carry cash with them.
The Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmer and Marketing Union Limited Samuel Adimado said this at the 25th Annual Delegates Conference of the KKFU for 2018/19 in Kumasi.
“So the police are at hand. They are also working on investigations. And as it came up that if money is the bait for armed robbers to attack our various depots then we’ll run a cashless system where we will not have cash at our depots.”
“So the cashless system is also part of COCOBOD’s strategies and governing policies and that is what we are deepening, where we will do the electronic transfer and then we will use the banks using the cheque system to make sure that transaction of cocoa is not affected,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited has laid down plans to train and enrol 1500 young women into cocoa farming in the next five years.
This is part of plans geared towards empowering women and their participation in the cocoa business.