Cocoa Farming
In 1870, Tetteh Quarshie undertook a voyage to the Spanish colony Fernando Po, a city in Equatorial Guinea. Nine years later, he returned to Ghana with several cocoa (Amelonado) beans and made history in Ghana. In 1879, Tetteh Quarshie planted the seeds at Mampong which was very successful. From the Gold Coast (now Ghana), the cocoa beans spread to other West African countries like cote D’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. Cocoa is the Principal agricultural export of Ghana and Ghana’s main cash crop.
Cocoa has a longer production life cycle than any other tropical crops and new varieties need over five years to come into production, and a further 10 to 15 years for the tree to reach its full bearing potential. The production of cocoa begins in the tropical regions around the Equator, where the hot and humid climate is well suited for growing cocoa trees. Cocoa is cultivated in six (6) Regions in Ghana and in the country’s forested areas. They are; Ashanti Region, Brong Ahafo Region, Central Region, Eastern Region, Western Region and Volta Region.
There are two main harvesting seasons of the crop; the main season starts from September to May; however, the peak production is from September to January and the minor season is from June to August. Thus, the cocoa season cuts across two calendar years.
The reason why Ghana is the second world leading exporter of cocoa is because of the exceptional quality of the cocoa bean. Because the beans go through a unique after-harvest process; that is, fermentation and drying.
Chocolate is one of the world’s favourite foods but growing cocoa is not an easy task but however, Fairtrade, UTZ, RAINFOREST ALLIANCE are helping to make it more sustainable.
In Ghana, over 1.6 million people engage in cocoa farming. Cocoa has been the major backbone of the Ghanaian economy since it serves as a foreign exchange for the country.
Research has shown that, cocoa farmers are faced with a lot of challenges. These include but not limited to the fact that; most cocoa farmers have limited knowledge about good agricultural practices; lack of technical-know-how; farmers lack access to agricultural input which can help in the development of their farms and also, most of the youth in our part of the world seek other career paths for better life and see cocoa farming as “so not their thing”.
Hans Nef cocoa Limited is looking forward to assist cocoa farmers and educate them on good agricultural practices and also to make farming more attractive for our next generation of potential cocoa farmers.
