Three institutions, have on behalf of 30 cocoa farmers, filed a petition with Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which among others, is seeking a review of the appointment mechanism of the Chief Executive Officer of the Board.
The petition will test COCOBOD’s promise to give cocoa-growing communities a voice in the appointment of the CEO.
The petitioners also want to “test the robustness, application, and transparency of the Ghana COCOBOD’s Environmental and Social Management System In 2018, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) established an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that includes a grievance and redress mechanism.”
The ESMS seeks to provide a structured framework for identifying and managing potential environmental, social, health and safety risks, impacts and opportunities of all operations in the cocoa sector.
The ESMS and the grievance and redress mechanism apply to COCOBOD, its subsidiaries and divisions, productivity-enhancing programmes, projects and activities, contractors, service providers, consultants and parties associated with any of the operations of the Board.
It also is to continually improve the system and sustainability of cocoa production.
The petitioners added: “This grievance highlights high-risk environmental and social violations that COCOBOD has failed to address,” and “we expect COCOBOD to respond to this claim and take rapid, robust action to address the issues.”
The farmers are mostly from the Sefwi Wiawso, a major cocoa producing area of the Western North Region, and the institutions that jointly presented the petition were Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), the University of Ghana School of Law and Civic Response (Ghana).
The grievance underscores the environmental and social issues that COCOBOD is mandated to monitor and resolve, but which the petitioners said the ESMS had failed to do since its inception.
Three institutions, have on behalf of 30 cocoa farmers, filed a petition with Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which among others, is seeking a review of the appointment mechanism of the Chief Executive Officer of the Board.
The petition will test COCOBOD’s promise to give cocoa-growing communities a voice in the appointment of the CEO.
The petitioners also want to “test the robustness, application, and transparency of the Ghana COCOBOD’s Environmental and Social Management System In 2018, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) established an Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) that includes a grievance and redress mechanism.”
The ESMS seeks to provide a structured framework for identifying and managing potential environmental, social, health and safety risks, impacts and opportunities of all operations in the cocoa sector.
The ESMS and the grievance and redress mechanism apply to COCOBOD, its subsidiaries and divisions, productivity-enhancing programmes, projects and activities, contractors, service providers, consultants and parties associated with any of the operations of the Board.
It also is to continually improve the system and sustainability of cocoa production.
The petitioners added: “This grievance highlights high-risk environmental and social violations that COCOBOD has failed to address,” and “we expect COCOBOD to respond to this claim and take rapid, robust action to address the issues.”
The farmers are mostly from the Sefwi Wiawso, a major cocoa producing area of the Western North Region, and the institutions that jointly presented the petition were Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), the University of Ghana School of Law and Civic Response (Ghana).
The grievance underscores the environmental and social issues that COCOBOD is mandated to monitor and resolve, but which the petitioners said the ESMS had failed to do since its inception.
Source: myghanadaily
