Forty-eight households engaged in cocoa and coffee farms in Adofe and Dzogbedo, in the Ho West District of the Volta region, have received complete sets of solar lamps from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and Light A Village, a non-governmental organisation.
It formed part of interim measures to light up cocoa and coffee growing communities which are yet to be connected to the national electricity grid to help the children study in the evening.
Deputy Director of Research at COCOBOD, Owusu Manu, who presented the items, stated that the gesture formed part of a larger education support programme by the two organisations in aid of the educational aspirations of the wards of farmers in remote communities.
Mr Owusu Manu noted that cocoa and coffee are important to Ghana’s economy, assuring that COCOBOD and its collaborators would make efforts to support its development. “It is in view of this that we support schools and communities without light,” he said.
Farmer groups
He entreated the farmers to form groups to make them stronger in seeking for support and building a better managed market for their produce.
The president and founder of Light A Village, Dr James Quartey, expressed his delight at being part of a project aimed at mobilising resources in support of communities which do not have electricity.
He was particularly happy about the close collaboration with COCOBOD, and expressed confidence about the growth of the partnership to continually help children access education by providing them with solar lamps for studies.
Ms Benedicta Tamakloe, the founder of Bean Masters Coffee, told the gathering that her organisation sources and roasts Ghanaian coffee from women owned farms. She disclosed that her outfit is committed to using 10 per cent of its net profit in the development of the farms from which it sources the coffee.
She encouraged other farmers who are actively into coffee farming to join the association. She noted that combining skills, knowledge and other abilities help them develop together while sharing skills and opportunities and to overcome challenges collectively.
Free Chocolate
Mr Owusu Manu later presented bars of chocolates to school children in the two communities, and explained their nutritional and health benefits to them.
He noted that cocoa, which forms the base of every chocolate product, has the potency to boost the cognitive ability of humans, especially children in their formative years, while providing the highest source of anti-oxidants for the human body.
