COCOBOD, Hershey delegates visit Assin Sienchem farmers

Cocobod officials led by the Executive Director, Cocoa Health and Extension Division, Dr. Francis Baah, and delegates from the Milton Hershey School have visited the cocoa farmers of Assin Sienchim as part of efforts of Cocobod to address pressing issues confronting such a promising cocoa hub of the country.

The visit was also to showcase the area to the delegates of the Milton Hershey School students who are directly beneficiaries of The Hershey Company, a company that purchases cocoa beans from Ghana, as part of their preparations to bring down students from the school to interact with the environment from whence the cocoa that the company uses, come from.

Dr Francis Baah, Executive Director of Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of COCOBOD was the leader of the team, which had Mr. Tim Wasielewski, Senior Director, Milton Hershey School, as the head of the American delegation.

The delegation paid a special working visit to the Assinman Young Cocoa Farmers Association.

COCOBOD has a long-standing relationship with the Hershey Company, which sources Ghana's cocoa as one of the best in terms of quality for its factory.

A Ghanaian delegation visited Milton Hershey School with a population of 2000 students, two weeks ago.

The school was set up by the Hershey Company to support children from challenging homes and thought it prudent as an advance team to prepare for the upcoming visit, slated for summer of 2016.

Mr. Baah said, for the past three years, the company has instituted a project called cocoa link, a public-private partnership that uses mobile technology to deliver timely farming, social and marketing information to local cocoa farmers to improve farming processes, income and livelihood.

The choice of Assin Sienchem is because it has 14,000 vibrant young cocoa farmers in the district, cultivating more than 17,000 hectares.

The town also represents the new phase of cocoa farmers in future.

Responding to concerns about some farms not being measured, Dr. Baah said the company is working to resolve the issue, and some farmers were unavailable when the authorities came to the district for the measurement.

On the question of an increase in the cocoa producer price expressed by the farmers, Dr Baah said, that would be determined by the Producer Price Review Committee before the beginning of the main crop season, adding that, the road construction in the district funded by COCOBOD would be completed by the end of the year.

“The COCOBOD distributed 100,000 bags of cocoa fertilisers to the district - more than enough to cover the area and boost their operations,” he said.

He said the district was the first to receive fertilizer this year, when the fertilizers started coming in early May; the farmers were not available when the team went there to do the measurement, but they are mopping up those whose farms have not been measured so they will also receive the fertilizers.

In response to the bad nature of the road that leads to the area, Dr. Francis Baah said the road is already under construction, and it’s one of the cocoa roads being funded by the COCOBOD from the farmers own cocoa money; and the current state of the road is much better as compared to last three years that he visited; and assures it’s going to be tarred.

He said he believed the road should be completed by the end of the year.

Mr. Theophilous Tamakloe, President of Young Cocoa Farmers Association, commended COCOBOD for the initiative, adding that the interaction would broaden engagement between the two countries in improving the country’s cocoa industry.

He bemoaned attempts by some farmers to politicize issues concerning cocoa spraying. “I have realized that everything in this country has been politicized, and it is something that disturbs us as cocoa farmers," he said.

He said: “Due to this undue politicization it is becoming increasingly difficult for cocoa farmers to unite; some people feel that once they do not belong to one political party they are not part of it. When that happens, it delays things that are to help us (cocoa farmers) move forward.”

According to him, the cocoa fertilizer that COCOBOD distributed was not done because of any political party, but for all Ghanaian cocoa farmers.

“We at Antopa have not been left out. I want to use this platform to advise all cocoa farmers in and around Assin and Antopa that politicizing things that would not be of benefit to us should not be entertained; we should find a way that will help us to stay united in our cocoa farming profession. When we are united, we will be able to move forward,” he said.

Mr. Wasielewski, on his part, explained that Milton Hershey School admits students with social and financial needs. The children who attend the school receive education, housing, and medical care — thriving as direct beneficiaries of The Hershey Company's success.

“It is important to them that they provide the students with an opportunity to understand global issues and engage in international travel programs, hence the need to bring the students to Assin Sienchem in summer,” he said.

“As you know with Hersey company, our student are direct benefactor of your work (cocoa farmers) here and we want them to understand that as well, so we are here to establish some relationships and understanding of what the trip might look like for our students; and then we want them to come here next year and help support some of the cocoa farmers by planting shed trees and get to understand the culture and community of Ghana, as well as the issues that are important to Ghanaian farmers,” he said.

He said: “I think they will understand things beyond Hershey Pennsylvania and that we live in a global community, that one thing impact another and most importantly, one of the things that they will understand is that the school which benefits directly from the Hershey products, has some connections with the cocoa produced here in Ghana.”