The globe's second largest producer of cocoa is distributing seedlings to farmers in order to become the world's top producer of the soft commodity, the country's finance minister told Bloomberg.
Ghana is aiming to outdo neighboring Ivory Coast, which is bouncing back from disruptions to its cocoa industry's production due to a long-lasting political dispute. For the first time during the 2010-2011 cocoa harvest, production in Ghana surpassed 1 million metric tons, stated the Ghana Cocoa Board, which regulates and advocates for nationwide cocoa production.
"I proposed 20 million seedlings each year for five years," Kwabena Duffuor told Bloomberg.
At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, cocoa futures dropped 3.55 percent, a $110 plunge to $2,988 per metric ton.
Laurent Gbagbo, who served as Ivory Coast president for 10 years through earlier this year, stockpiled weaponry at three sites in the West African nation, according to The Associated Press. The nation's defense minister said security forces are working with U.N. peacekeepers to safely store the arms that include as many as 30 tons-worth opf weaponry and 78 aerial bombs.
Gbagbo's opponent was declared the winner of the November 2010 presidential election, but Gbagbo refused to cede power, which caused civil unrest and disruptions to the cocoa industry. Gbagbo was apprehended in April by peacekeepers from the United Nations and France.
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