National best Cocoa farmers visit UK

Nana Kweku Adu, 2015 National Best Cocoa Farmer, Nana Opoku Gyamfi, 2016 National Best Cocoa Farmer and Madam Martha Addai, 2016 Most Enterprising Female Cocoa Farmers have paid a courtesy call on Papa Owusu Ankomah, Ghana’s High Commissioner to UK as part of a two weeks visit to the United Kingdom.

The visit, sponsored by Ghana Cocoa Board, is part of the award packages to the farmers for emerging as National Best Farmers for the 2015 and 2016 crop seasons.

Receiving the farmers at the Ghana High Commission, Mr. Owusu Ankomah commended the cocoa farmers for working relentlessly to ensure sustainable cocoa production over the past years and encouraged them to go beyond cocoa cultivation to cocoa processing in an effort to add value to their cocoa.

He lauded Ghana Cocoa Board for its plan to ensure local processing of cocoa to check cocoa price volatility and pledged his outfit’s support to woo more investors to Ghana to seize the numerous opportunities in the cocoa industry. He further called on the youth to go into cocoa farming to secure the future of the cocoa industry.

The farmers were accompanied by two members of the Board of Directors; Nana Johnson Mensah and Nana Obeng Akrofi as well as Mr. Noah K. Amenyah, Senior Public Affairs Manager.

Explaining the rationale behind the trip, Mr. Amenyah said, each year, Ghana Cocoa Board sponsors its national awardees to the UK as part of efforts to motivate farmers to give off their best. He hinted that the visit was very memorial and significant because it coincided with the 70th Anniversary of Ghana Cocoa Board.

He also disclosed that the focus of the 70th Anniversary was to drum home the need for processing and consumption of cocoa. According to him, cocoa is good for the heart, lungs, skin and must be consumed daily to take advantage of its nutritional and health benefits.

Barnett Quaicoo, Manager, CMC, UK outlined activities ear-marked for the farmers’ visit which included visit to the UK Parliament, participation in an exhibition at Trafalgar Square, visits to cocoa processing companies among others.