About 300 cocoa farmers from the Ahafo Ano North and South districts of the Ashanti Region have received GH₵322,560 as certification premium bonuses for 1,400 metric tonnes of exportable certified beans sold to Noble Resources.
The
farmers, being part of the Ahafo Ano North and South UTZ Cocoa Farmers
Association (AHANSUCOFA), were said to have undergone various UTZ trainings
through Solidaridad, a non-governmental organisation that has been
collaborating with stakeholders in the cocoa industry to implement cocoa
sustainable programmnes.
Mr. Isaac
Gyamfi, Managing Director, Solidaridad West Africa, in an interview at
Mankranso, clarified that ‘cocoa certification is not a panacea for solving
every problem in cocoa cultivation’.
“Certification
is seen as one of the tools that can help farmers to adopt sustainable farming
practices, because the standards define certain sets of norms and conducts that
farmers need to adopt. And certification is just one,” he explained.
He
however pointed out global companies which buy cocoa have opted for
certification and made public declarations in statements that they will only
source sustainably certified cocoa.
Each of the farmers received a
cash premium of GH₵3.00 per bag, a certificate and Wellington boots as part of
the reward for their hard work and commitment to adapting to
sustainable cocoa production practices. Members of AHANSUCOFA in each project
community were also given one motorised mist-blower.
Noble
Resources which bought the 1,400 metric tonnes of beans through Federated
Commodities, a licenced cocoa buying company, is said to have funded training
of the farmers on cocoa certification as a tool to promote sustainability and
improved livelihoods for farmers.
“Solidaridad West Africa
initiated AHANSUCOFA in 2009 as a pilot project of its Cocoa Improvement
Programme with support from the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative
looking at how a farmer association can be a certificate-holder of the UTZ
Certification code of conduct.”
The
project is said to have started with about 300 farmers in 10 communities in
Ahafo Ano North and South. Presently, AHANSUCOFA is said to have a total
membership of 5,002 in 155 communities of the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions.
Cocoa production has been
observed to be improving significantly over the last three years, as
a result of rigorous training of farmers in good agricultural
practices. Solidaridad, noted to be in the forefront of
cocoa certification globally and particularly in West Africa, is said
be engaged in developing new initiatives that provide additional services to
certification for cocoa farmers to sustain the increases currently being
recorded in the country’s cocoa production.
Source: B&FT
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