Vice President Mahama in a discussion with Mr. Nick Bunker (left), and Dr. Nicholas West Cott, British High Commissioner in Accra.
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31st August, 2010
Vice President Lauds U.S.A
Vice-President John Mahama has welcomed the removal of Ghana from the list of countries which employ child labour on its cocoa farms, saying, the move is in the right direction.
Ghana's cocoa was among 122 products from 58 countries listed by the US Department of Labour on its Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA) list. The primary purpose of the TVPRA list is to raise public awareness about the incidence of child labour and forced labour in the production of goods in the countries listed and to promote efforts to eliminate such practices.
At a meeting of the International Joint Working Group on Labour in Cocoa Farming in Accra last year, Vice-President Mahama requested the United States Department of Labour to remove Ghana's cocoa from its list of goods produced by child or forced labour, describing it as "unacceptable and serves to undermine the efforts that we are making to address the issue of the worst forms of child labour ."
The Vice-President was holding discussions with a delegation from the United Kingdom-based Cadbury/Kraft Foods and FairTrade Foundation, which called on him at the Castle, Osu, in Accra yesterday.
Vice-President Mahama said the country had put in mechanisms including monitoring to prevent child or forced labour in cocoa farms and gave the assurance that the government would continue to educate farmers to ensure that children were not engaged in dangerous practices.
He stressed the need to sustain the cocoa industry as it continued to be the major export earner for the country. Government's policy, he said, had always been to ensure that at least, 70 per cent of the world market price went to farmers.
Stressing the need to avoid concentration on the oil industry to the detriment of other sectors of the economy, he said "IT is important to sustain our traditional sectors to avoid suffering the 'Dutch disease' because of the inflow of petro-dollars into the economy."
"We are fashioning out the necessary legislation to ensure investments in these sectors are sustained”, he informed the delegation, adding, "We have targeted increasing cocoa production and adding value to it."
Mr. Mahama assured the delegation that Ghana was committed to the principles of fair trade and would continue to ensure that the country's cocoa beans were of the highest quality.
Nick Bunker, president of Cadbury UK and Ireland said the delegation would be visiting cocoa farming communities that the Cadbury cocoa partnership was supporting and witness first-hand, the work that was being done to support thriving cocoa communities in Ghana.
The Cadbury cocoa partnership was established in 2008 with the objective of supporting sustainable cocoa communities and improving the lives of over half a million cocoa farmers and their families by 2018.
"It is inspiring to see how partners like Kuapa Kokoo have empowered thousands of small-holding farmers to improve their own livelihoods," he said.
Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of FairTrade Foundation, who dwelt on tackling poverty through trade in Ghana said "We have already visited fruit production areas in the Volta Region and cashew and shea-nuts farms in the Northern Region."
Ghana's cocoa was among 122 products from 58 countries listed by the US Department of Labour on its Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA) list. The primary purpose of the TVPRA list is to raise public awareness about the incidence of child labour and forced labour in the production of goods in the countries listed and to promote efforts to eliminate such practices.
At a meeting of the International Joint Working Group on Labour in Cocoa Farming in Accra last year, Vice-President Mahama requested the United States Department of Labour to remove Ghana's cocoa from its list of goods produced by child or forced labour, describing it as "unacceptable and serves to undermine the efforts that we are making to address the issue of the worst forms of child labour ."
The Vice-President was holding discussions with a delegation from the United Kingdom-based Cadbury/Kraft Foods and FairTrade Foundation, which called on him at the Castle, Osu, in Accra yesterday.
Vice-President Mahama said the country had put in mechanisms including monitoring to prevent child or forced labour in cocoa farms and gave the assurance that the government would continue to educate farmers to ensure that children were not engaged in dangerous practices.
He stressed the need to sustain the cocoa industry as it continued to be the major export earner for the country. Government's policy, he said, had always been to ensure that at least, 70 per cent of the world market price went to farmers.
Stressing the need to avoid concentration on the oil industry to the detriment of other sectors of the economy, he said "IT is important to sustain our traditional sectors to avoid suffering the 'Dutch disease' because of the inflow of petro-dollars into the economy."
"We are fashioning out the necessary legislation to ensure investments in these sectors are sustained”, he informed the delegation, adding, "We have targeted increasing cocoa production and adding value to it."
Mr. Mahama assured the delegation that Ghana was committed to the principles of fair trade and would continue to ensure that the country's cocoa beans were of the highest quality.
Nick Bunker, president of Cadbury UK and Ireland said the delegation would be visiting cocoa farming communities that the Cadbury cocoa partnership was supporting and witness first-hand, the work that was being done to support thriving cocoa communities in Ghana.
The Cadbury cocoa partnership was established in 2008 with the objective of supporting sustainable cocoa communities and improving the lives of over half a million cocoa farmers and their families by 2018.
"It is inspiring to see how partners like Kuapa Kokoo have empowered thousands of small-holding farmers to improve their own livelihoods," he said.
Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of FairTrade Foundation, who dwelt on tackling poverty through trade in Ghana said "We have already visited fruit production areas in the Volta Region and cashew and shea-nuts farms in the Northern Region."
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