US Ambassador Visits Cocoa Farm

Farmer harvesting cocoa

Kojokrom, March 21, 2015 -THE US Ambassador to Ghana, Gene A. Cretz, Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Christopher Thornley and the Australian Trade Commissioner in West Africa, Gordon Chakaodza have embarked on historic visit to a cocoa farm in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The visit to the 3-acre cocoa farm at Kojokrom, a village near Kenyasi in the Asutifi North District on Tuesday, March 17, was to afford the foreign envoys the opportunity to learn at firsthand the processes that farmers go through in getting the cocoa beans to the international market. 
The envoys also toured American owned multinational mining company, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited at Ahafo Kenyasi and the Chirano Gold Mine, an underground and open pit gold mine at Bibiani in the Western Region, owned by Toronto-based Kinross Gold Corporation.

Ambassador Cretz and his colleagues earlier paid a courtesy call on the Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, who welcomed them to the region.

Ambassador Cretz explained that the US, Canadian and the Australian governments have interest in cocoa and mining industries in Ghana, saying they would use the trip to explore various issues to make cocoa a sustainable crop.

He admitted that there has been improvement in the cocoa industry in Ghana with respect to creating access for children of farmers to education and eliminating children in hazardous work in cocoa farms.

Christopher Thornley, the Canadian High Commissioner, maintained that Canada has had very strong diplomatic ties with Ghana since 1957 and would ensure strengthen it to inure to the benefit of the two countries.

The envoys were happy with the trip to the cocoa farm and described it as “absolutely amassing.”

They were taken through the various processes such as harvesting the cocoa from the trees, breaking the pods, fermentation and drying the beans and final bagging of the dried beans.

The farm belongs to one of the members of the Kokoopa Farmers Association which is under the Cocoa Livelihoods Project being sponsored by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF).

The project, which is being implemented in 208 communities in Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Western Regions, provides technical support to farmers to produce quality cocoa beans.

Present at the farm were Dr Francis Baah, Executive Director of Cocoa Health and Extension Division of Cocobod, Vincent Frimpong Manu, Country Coordinator of the Cocoa Livelihoods Programme, among others.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Cretz has announced that Ghana is being considered as the first country to join the Child Protection Compact Partnership (CPC Partnership).

The programme would involve the development of a multi-year plan to implement new and more effective policies and programmes to reduce child trafficking and improve child protection in Ghana. 

The Partnership aims to bolster  the efforts of the Government of Ghana and civil society organizations to tackling child sex trafficking and forced child labour in Ghana.

Presenting the keynote address at the launch of the International Justice Mission office in Ghana, Ambassador Cretz said the partnership would be a five-year, $5 million innovative effort to combat child trafficking.

Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako