Ghana Cocoa Board fears the current weather conditions as a result of climate change may negatively affect the country’s cocoa production target of nearly 500,000 metric tons.

According to its Chief Executive, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the country is likely to experience a marginal change in product quality if the challenges persist.

In recent times, the Ghana Meteorological Agency has warned of extreme dry weather conditions in some parts of the country. The industry has also been impacted heavily by the illegal mining activities.

Mr. Boahen Aidoo told Joy Business the situation is worrying.

He believes this has worsen some challenges facing the sector the swollen shoot disease.

“Climate change is affecting us globally and recently it also brought what we refer to as El-Nino which is a weather condition that brings extreme high temperatures”.

“It has a severe impact on us globally. Whenever it happens and sometimes plants cannot even survive”, he added.

El Nino comes with severe harmattan or excessive rainfall which becomes problematic for cocoa trees.

“Since last year, the effect is that we are losing flowers and so on which could affect our cocoa production because it appears we experience excessive rainfall and excessive high temperatures and the situation has come to exacerbate an existing problem of swollen shoot which is already affecting our cocoa trees”, he told  continued.

The CEO however assured that COCOBOD is monitoring the situation and will be taking drastic interventions to avert any further concerns on the country’s premium cocoa.

Ghana could produce about 492,000 metric tons of cocoa beans in 2023/2024

Ghana could produce about 492,000 metric tons of cocoa beans in the 2023/2024 crop season, about 27.9% less than the 683,000 metric tons of cocoa beans recorded in the 2022/2023, some stakeholders within the cocoa industry have told Joy Business on condition of anonymity.

The falling cocoa production is due to illegal gold mining, adverse weather conditions, smuggling activities, and the prevalence of swollen shoot disease.

In the 2021/2022 crop season, the country produced about 750,000 metric tons of cocoa beans. Since then, cocoa production has taken a nose dive.

The Executive Director of Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, has disclosed that plans are far advanced to turn the Agency into an Authority.

Speaking during the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce’s (UKGCC) webinar on “Navigating Environmental Regulations: Ensuring Compliance with EPA Guidelines in Ghana”, Dr. Kokofu remarked, “The Environmental Protection Law is being amended to change the EPA into an Authority.

“By courtesy of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Cabinet has approved, and it is with Parliament as we speak; it has gone through the first and second readings; it is at the third reading for consideration so within a month or so, Parliament will approve, and the President will assent to it”.

“That law will give more impetus to the EPA by way of authorisation; the EPA will have the powers to cause arrests; when the law becomes operational, the EPA will not rely on the police service to cause arrests-EPA itself will be deemed as a quasi-national security institution. Beyond causing arrests, the EPA will have prosecutorial powers. The EPA will become a force to be reckoned with and it will be placed and positioned to deal with global environmental issues alongside national environmental issues.”

The EPA: Activities and Functions

The EPA is Ghana’s leading public entity mandated to protect, co-manage, and improve the environment in the country. It is backed by the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490) with Environmental Assessment Regulations, 1999 9L.I. 1652) as its enabling legislation.

The EPA’s mandate covers both built and natural environments, which encompasses the physical and the natural across terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric ecosystems.

According to Dr. Kokofu, the EPA undertakes numerous activities in the exercise of its mandate. These include conducting Environmental Impact Assessments to assess the potential environmental impact of proposed development projects.

The EPA also undertakes environmental monitoring of industrial and commercial activities to ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations; and issues environmental permits to regulate various projects across different sectors including energy, mining, agriculture, and others.

The EPA utilises a wide array of strategies to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. These include embarking on regular compliance and enforcement exercises, monitoring permit schedules, and undertaking organisational training.

“We’ve also introduced a rewards system that uses the “whistleblowing” concept to encourage citizens “to proffer information on environmental infractions or offenses” to the EPA for a reward, he added.

Which Businesses Register with EPA?

Businesses whose activities have a potential impact on the environment must register with the EPA.

Dr. Kokofu specifically identified businesses in mining, manufacturing (food, beverages, rubber products, plastic products), petroleum, built environment (hospitality, hotels), carbon markets, construction and agriculture (forestry services, logging, commercial farming activities), and others as those that must register with the EPA.

Dr. Kokofu observed that while the EPA’s mandate is broad, “as part of our challenges, the EPA is unable to cover all the sectors”. He assured participants that this will be one of the issues the EPA will be addressing in the future.

He also urged businesses to submit quarterly reports to the EPA to enable them to monitor activities, as well as submit consolidated annual reports at the end of each year, which comprise all the quarterly reports.

Dr. Kokofu concurred that the EPA needs to do more to simplify the registration process to ensure there is no time wastage and demystify the misconceptions surrounding the registration process.

“We welcome any suggestions that may help us to simplify the process”, he said.

EPA Sanctions

According to Dr. Kokofu, the EPA can apply administrative or legal sanctions to non-compliant businesses, depending on the activity and gravity of the offense or crime. Sanctions can include closing down facilities and revoking permits if the EPA has the cause to do so.

He emphasised, however, that the EPA is not a law unto itself.

“There are checks and balances to how far the EPA can go- to what extent the EPA can work within its mandate. If a proponent does not agree with a decision made by the EPA, the law allows that proponent to petition the sector minister for redress”.

Theophilus Tawiah, Managing Partner at WTS Nobisfields who moderated the webinar, suggested that the EPA introduce an online application process as well as a client service unit to make it easier for businesses to engage with the EPA. The webinar also discussed a range of issues, such as the conditions under which permits may be issued, and how the EPA is working to improve air quality

The Ghana cedi crossed the $13 mark as the depreciation of the local currency continued on February 28, 2024.

Most forex bureaus according to checks by Joy Business sold one US dollar for between GH¢13.05 and GH¢13.15.

Some analysts have attributed the recent depreciation of the cedi to incessant corporate demand, which they described as seasonal, and the over GH¢5 billion coupon payments of about 15 new Government of Ghana bonds to investors last week. However, they believe that the worsening situation goes beyond the two above issues.

The year-to-date depreciation of the local unit is about 5.36% after losing about 26 pesewas one American greenback in the last two days of this week.

The same situation can also be said about the pound and the euro as they are now are going for GH¢16.20 and GH¢14 respectively.

The cedi began this week going for GH¢12.85 on the retail market. However, the Bank of Ghana is quoting one dollar to GH¢12.40.

It weakened 1.37% week-on-week to the American greenback last week, as a result of immense corporate demand and cedi-funded foreign exchange pressure.

Some research institutions had earlier projected a mid-US dollar Ghana cedi rate at GH¢13.10/US$1 (-8.4% annual loss) with improving fundamentals, expected external inflows, and appropriate monetary policy stance partly offsetting election-related and external debt restructuring uncertainties.