The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a statement today expressing “grave concern over the deepening crisis in Ghana’s cocoa sector and its devastating impact on farmers and rural communities.”
“We therefore call for the immediate payment of all arrears, transparent financial restructuring of the Ghana Cocoa Board, sustained producer prices, intensified investment in productivity, and a depoliticized national dialogue centered on farmers’ welfare,” said the president of the episcopal conference said in its press statement, “An urgent call to rescue Ghana’s cocoa sector.”
The West African nation of 35.3 million (map) is 72% Christian (14% Catholic), 19% Muslim, and 8% ethnic religionist.