The Cocoa Farmers’ Pension Scheme (CFPS)will soon kick off at AssinFoso, AssinBereku and New Edubiase to allow cocoa farmers enjoy the benefits for decent living after retirement.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the CFPS in December 22020, aimedatguaranteeing decent pension for cocoa farmers in Ghana to have a good living standard after pension.
Mr David Asare Oduro, the Cooperate Affairs Manager of Ghana COCOBOD, said the scheme was a 36-year-old provision in section 26 of the Ghana Cocoa Board Law 1984 (PNDC L.81) which mandated Organisationtoset up contributory insurance for cocoa farmers.
At a meeting with cocoa farmers in the Assin enclave to further explain the CFPS to them, he said the scheme required that five per cent of every sale of beans be deducted and transferred into the pension account for the government to add one per cent to itas its contribution.
For age, he noted that older people who will be enrolled could decide to opt out after five years and young cocoa farmers at age 55 or decide to remain on the scheme and retire later.
The scheme, he statedwouldbe operated by the purchasing clerks and regulated by a 10-member Board of Trustees, including four cocoa farmers in cocoa growing districts.
He asked farmers to cooperate with the officers from COCOBOD who had been tasked to collect their data for Cocoa Management System (CMS), to get a robust database of all cocoa farmers in the country for effective tracking of their contributions.
He said the CMS, facilitate the prompt payment of claims to beneficiary farmers and entreated all cocoa farmers to sign on to the scheme to enjoy the full sets of benefits it offered.
Mr Stephen Kissi, a cocoa farmer, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said, the CFPS wasgood news as they would also enjoy the same privilege as government workers did.
Another cocoa farmer, Mrs Akosua Manua appealedto all cocoa farmers to get on board to also enjoy the benefits government had introduced.
