National Best Cocoa farmers advocate for enhanced value addition

The 2022 National Best Cocoa farmers have called for the adoption of pragmatic measures to add more value to cocoa for job creation and enhanced income.

Bismark Fuachie, the 2022 National Best Cocoa Farmer, Joyce Dapaah, the 2022 Most Enterprising Female Cocoa Farmer, and Peter Paintsil, the 2022 Most Promising Young Cocoa Farmer, made the call when they visited KOA, a natural cocoa fruit juice producer headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

The farmers, who were on an educational tour of Europe to engage with international partners across the cocoa value chain, were particularly impressed by KOA's innovative use of cocoa pulp. They urged the company to expand its operations to all cocoa-growing regions in Ghana.

"If such significant revenue can be generated from cocoa pulp, which we typically discard, imagine the substantial incomes that could be derived from other parts of the cocoa pod," remarked Joyce Dapaah, the 2022 Most Enterprising Female Cocoa Farmer.

Welcoming the farmers to the KOA facility, Mr. Anian Schreiber, Managing Director and Co-Founder of KOA, highlighted that cocoa pulp offers an additional income stream for farmers, with many already participating in the initiative.

In appreciation of the work being done by KOA in Ghana, Peter Paintsil noted that he would encourage his fellow farmers to view cocoa farming as a viable business.

He also expressed gratitude to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) for their various interventions that have significantly improved yields. "The interventions introduced by COCOBOD have enabled us to increase our yields," he acknowledged.

The team also visited the Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) and Barry Callebaut, a global leader in cocoa processing and value addition, where they learned about the intricate processes involved.

The farmers also toured the Lindt Chocolate Museum to learn about the history of chocolate, from its origins with the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica; the entire process of chocolate production, from cocoa bean to finished product, as well as tasting stations where they sampled different types of chocolate and learned about the art of chocolate making.

They were particularly excited about how Ghana Cocoa is featured as a model for sustainable cocoa farming.