Cocoa production contributes about 8% to Ghana’s GDP and revenue of over 2 Billion dollars annually . With Europe being the largest consumer of Ghana’s Cocoa, the economy heavily depends on its foreign exchange earned from cocoa exports. . With Europe being the largest consumer of Ghana’s Cocoa, the economy heavily depends on its foreign exchange earned from cocoa exports.
In view of this,the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have streamlined four thematic areas geared towards the production of cocoa legally without violating the European Union Deforestation Regulation. These operations to legalize cocoa and for easy penetration into the European Market is being funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). COCOBOD and GIZ have worked massively on the traceability theme, which seeks to track the source of cocoa beans, right to the farm through the Ghana Cocoa Traceability System (GCTS).
The European Union (EU), steered by their commitment to accountable practices and production, launched a Sustainable Cocoa Program in 2019. The initiative seeks to make provision to pay farmers the income they deserve, curb child labour and address deforestation within the cocoa supply chain. By December 2025, no cocoa from any country to the European market should be connected to deforestation as required by the EU’s Deforestation Regulation and a bit of child labour.
The Cocoa Management System (CMS) commenced in 2018 by COCOBOD, has captured relevant information on the details of the farmers, type of cocoa, sizes of farms and also the digitalization of payments. According to COCOBOD, socioeconomic measures such as scholarship schemes for wards of cocoa farmers, have been in place to assist farmer.
As part of the initiatives to check legal cocoa production and also educate farmers and stakeholders, a week training workshop was organized by GIZ
and COCOBOD, co-funded by the European Union and the federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development for young journalists in the Cocoa Sector. The twenty young journalists (10 males and 10 females), went the through the systematic processes cocoa goes through right from the farm to the port. The Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) educated them on their role in Cocoa production and how they work hand in hand with the cocoa farmers. The Quality Control Company (QCC) took them through procedures to check the quality of the cocoa beans to be exported. Experienced facilitators in Journalism, namely Prof. Godwin Etse Sikanku, Mr. Kofi Domfeh and Mr. Kwadwo Sarpong Amfo impacted the young journalists with knowledge in media and Journalism, Sustainability as well as photography.
In the Assin Fosu Cocoa District, a field analysis was conducted with Mr. Samuel Torbi, a Cocoa Farmer who is enrolled on the system and explained how the traceability system works through colour tagging, registraton and other procedures. He elaborated on how the traceability system has helped him. “The Traceability System has helped me to work effectively without mixing beans from my other farms which helps in easy sorting”. Because of the education he has received from COCOBOD and GIZ, Mr. Torbi emphasised that he shares a boarder with the forest but does not farm there due to the traceability system as he will be tracked and questioned and also knows the implications of Deforestation as well as the violation of the EU’s Deforestation Regulation. The GCTS has been piloted in the Assin Fosu Cocoa District and yet to be sent to the other Cocoa Districts in the 7 Cocoa Farming Regions of Ghana.
Ghana’s Journey to sustainable Cocoa has begun, the era of change and good Cocoa farming ,to continue producing quality beans the world needs.