Farmers drying cocoa beans
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19th August, 2011
Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union To Plant 50,000 Trees In Ashanti, Brong Ahafo
The Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) in partnership with Chocolate Halba, a Swiss Chocolate Manufacturing company is to plant 50,000 trees in 20 cocoa communities in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions.
The forest plantation would be used to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the leading causes of climate change, to offset the Swiss company’s carbon credits (carbon emissions).
Among the cocoa growing communities which would benefit from the project are Tepa, Agona, Dadieso, Effiduase, Amankwatia, Manso Amenfi, Asawinso and Offinso.
The Executive Director, Mr. Emmanuel Arthur, who was addressing the opening session of the 17th Annual Delegates Conference of the Union here said Chocolate Halba would be expected to buy the carbon credits from those planted trees to add up to the income of the farmers.
Over 2,000 delegates from the five regions, where the company operates met on the theme; “Certification in Cocoa as a means of achieving the one million metric tonne target: the experience of Kuapa Kokoo”.
Mr. Arthur told the Union the project would be expanded to other farmers in other districts.
He stated that, a three-year strategic plan was under way to ensure better service to the 64,000 members of Kuapa Kokoo.
He announced that, KKFU with the support of Divine Chocolate in the United Kingdom, had developed a database management system to improve operational and membership data and also use it as a communication tool between the head office and the operational districts and societies.
The Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited (KKL), Mr Kwasi Aduse-Poku blamed the inability of the company to achieve its set target of cocoa beans purchase on their cash flow.
He explained that KKL targeted the purchase of 35,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, but could only purchase a little over 28,000 tonnes.
Madam Rita Damoah, Cocoa Certification Consultant to KKFU explained that the United States of America rejected Cocoa beans from Ghana due to the country’s bad child labour record.
She stated that it was detected that the use of children for the hard work on the farms affected their health.
Madam Damoah also encouraged cocoa farmers to cooperate with extension officers in order to apply the right chemicals to the cocoa to produce more for the country to earn more money.
Meanwhile, managers of Divine Chocolate UK, which is 45 percent owned by Kuapa Kokoo farmers, say the company’s fortunes were affected by last year’s economic climate across Europe and America.
Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, Sophi Tranchell, however, acknowledged the operations of the democratic farmers’ cooperative had endeared consumers to patronize the guaranteed fair trade price of divine chocolate.
She believed farmers’ livelihood would improve when chocolate producing firms purchased their cocoa on fair trade terms.
Kuapa Kokoo farmers received 178, 000 dollars as fair trade bonus for the year 2010 main season.
Madam Tranchell said they had also committed two percent of their premium turnover amounting to 200,000 pounds sterling to a program dubbed: “producer support and development programme”.
The forest plantation would be used to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the leading causes of climate change, to offset the Swiss company’s carbon credits (carbon emissions).
Among the cocoa growing communities which would benefit from the project are Tepa, Agona, Dadieso, Effiduase, Amankwatia, Manso Amenfi, Asawinso and Offinso.
The Executive Director, Mr. Emmanuel Arthur, who was addressing the opening session of the 17th Annual Delegates Conference of the Union here said Chocolate Halba would be expected to buy the carbon credits from those planted trees to add up to the income of the farmers.
Over 2,000 delegates from the five regions, where the company operates met on the theme; “Certification in Cocoa as a means of achieving the one million metric tonne target: the experience of Kuapa Kokoo”.
Mr. Arthur told the Union the project would be expanded to other farmers in other districts.
He stated that, a three-year strategic plan was under way to ensure better service to the 64,000 members of Kuapa Kokoo.
He announced that, KKFU with the support of Divine Chocolate in the United Kingdom, had developed a database management system to improve operational and membership data and also use it as a communication tool between the head office and the operational districts and societies.
The Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited (KKL), Mr Kwasi Aduse-Poku blamed the inability of the company to achieve its set target of cocoa beans purchase on their cash flow.
He explained that KKL targeted the purchase of 35,000 tonnes of cocoa beans, but could only purchase a little over 28,000 tonnes.
Madam Rita Damoah, Cocoa Certification Consultant to KKFU explained that the United States of America rejected Cocoa beans from Ghana due to the country’s bad child labour record.
She stated that it was detected that the use of children for the hard work on the farms affected their health.
Madam Damoah also encouraged cocoa farmers to cooperate with extension officers in order to apply the right chemicals to the cocoa to produce more for the country to earn more money.
Meanwhile, managers of Divine Chocolate UK, which is 45 percent owned by Kuapa Kokoo farmers, say the company’s fortunes were affected by last year’s economic climate across Europe and America.
Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, Sophi Tranchell, however, acknowledged the operations of the democratic farmers’ cooperative had endeared consumers to patronize the guaranteed fair trade price of divine chocolate.
She believed farmers’ livelihood would improve when chocolate producing firms purchased their cocoa on fair trade terms.
Kuapa Kokoo farmers received 178, 000 dollars as fair trade bonus for the year 2010 main season.
Madam Tranchell said they had also committed two percent of their premium turnover amounting to 200,000 pounds sterling to a program dubbed: “producer support and development programme”.
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