Very soon, the Akuafo Cheque system, introduced in the 1980's by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to make cocoa farmers cultivate the habit of savings and become familiar with the banking system, as well as protect them against armed robbery, is likely to phase out, if nothing is done to revive it. Most farmers prefer cash to the Akuafo cheques, and that while purchasing clerks of the licensed produce buying companies say the system is good, in spite of some bottlenecks, the farmers are blaming the accountants and banks of the licensed buying companies for the loss of interest in the system. The purchasing clerks are accused of undermining the system. The situation is already having its toll on the economy, as the PBC has lost four marketing clients according to Mr. Kwaku Gaisie, the Regional Manager of Produce Buying Company Limited in Kumasi. Mr. Bonah, purchasing clerk for the Manfo Society in the Ahafo Ano North municipality, said to be the leading cocoa district, would not issue Akuafo cheques at all. Fact is not more than ten farmers in the district patronize the Akuafo cheque system. He has also attributed the situation to the increase and competition generated by the licensed buying companies, as a result of which most farmers prefer cash to cheques. Mr. Gaisie confirmed the issue, and said the PBC now purchases 70% of the products by cash and 30% by cheque. He said some cocoa farmers from remote communities, who receive the cheques for their products, most often face frustrations when they go to the banks to withdraw their money, which he said, had compelled the farmers to go in for cash instead of cheques. Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle in Kumasi, Mr. Gaisie said since most farmers were not committed to the Akuafo cheque, they used some key farmers to withdraw their money for other farmers, because of the stress some go through when they were being paid with the Akuafo cheque. He said some farmers who were from the rural areas, after traveling with the cheques to withdraw their money, most often have their cheques being returned (bounced), which he said, had made them prefer cash to the Akuafo cheque. The Regional Manager also stated that with the exception of farmers who produce between two hundred to three hundred bags of cocoa, the minor producers always insist on cash, which he said has caused them to lose four marketing clients this year. In view of that, he said, competitors were taking advantage of that, since they were "getting ready markets from\the farmers." He therefore called on the government to reintroduce the Mobile Banking System,-and assist the various banks to make "money readily available" for the farmers, and take steps to make the industry lucrative, because "Ghana is cocoa and cocoa is Ghana." He also called on the COCOBOD, as a regulator, to make it mandatory for farmers to be issued with cheques, rather than the cash payment process. Meanwhile, the Tepa District Chief Farmer, Nana Asare Bediako, has noted that the purchasing of cocoa with the Akuafo Cheque was no more an attraction to farmers, since they prefered cash. He has suggested the establishment of Akuafo Cheque Monitoring teams to see to the effective implementation of the system. The Tepa branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) is on record to have dishonoured special Akuafo cheques issued to farmers by the Produce Buying Company (PBC) Limited recently. On December 30, 2008, Owusu Kumi attempted to withdraw GH¢300 from the amount he was paid, but was told the Akuafo cheque issued by Mr. Bonah, the Purchasing Clerk at Manfo, had been defaced. When another one was issued, the bank refused to pay, with the reason that there were no funds in the PBC Account. The PBC account at the bank has shown red, and farmers have to wait until the bank makes alternative arrangements to transfer money from different sources, before honouring such, cheques. Mr. Patrick Owusu Kumi, a farmer of the Manfo Society in the Tepa District has complained about the inability of the bank to pay him an amount of GH¢660.96 under the Akuafo cheque system. . Currently, Mr. Owusu Kumi, who does not see anything wrong with a farmer going to cash money at the bank, has refused to sell his bags of cocoa, because he is not ready to take cash. For two weeks the farmer made several attempts to withdraw his money to no avail. Owusu Kumi has appealed to the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to embark on a public education about the rights of farmers, with regards to payments at banks. He has called on the government to reinforce the use of Akuafo cheque in the payment of cocoa farmers in the country. This, he said, would help eliminate the emerging practice of some private buying companies use fake cedi notes to pay cocoa farmers. He has also called on the COCOBOD to reintroduce the old system of paying bonuses to farmers through the Akuafo Cheque system, ,to save farmers from attacks by thieves and armed robbers. Mr. Owusu Kumi expressed the worry that many farmers were making covert and subtle attempts to avoid the cheque system, even though the Ghana COCOBOD law enjoins all cocoa dealers to effect payment for cocoa by the cheque system. He called on the COCOBOD to take the necessary steps to apply sanctions against the licensed buying companies for flouting the law pertaining to the use of cheques in purchasing cocoa. He expects the COCOBOD to intensify the Akuafo Cheque campaign in the districts to rekindle farmers’ interest in the cheque system and suggested effective education and communication among the stakeholders in the cocoa industry as the best solution to the problem. Source: The Chronicle