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Op-ed
Op-ed category is dedicated to write-ups by contributors, reporters, industry experts, and players, representing their strong, informed, and focused opinions on an issue relevant to the cocoa and chocolate industry.
Expand Value Addition To Ghana’s Cocoa Beyond The Idea Of Chocolate
Ghana’s main upgrading strategy in the cocoa sector has been to maintain quality while struggling with cocoa processing and manufacturing of chocolate.
Previous governments of Ghana have attempted to process cocoa into various products,…
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Why COCOBOD Must Link Increased Local Value Addition Strategy To Farmers’ Livelihoods
On the 27th of May 2021, Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPC), organised the GIPC Cocoa Value Chain Investment Meeting with key stakeholders in the sector.
As a cocoa farmer’s son with a keen personal and professional interest in…
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Could China’s Entry Into Cocoa Production Benefit Ghana?
I am sure when we heard of China’s first export of 500 Kilograms of cocoa beans to Belgium we cringed asking ourselves, can China produce cocoa beans?
Well, for me, I have rather wondered exactly what pride there is in being acclaimed as…
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Must Ghana Panic Over China’s First Ever Cocoa Export To Europe?
The international media and Ghana's local media have been awash with news of China's first-ever export of cocoa beans to Europe, precisely Belgium.
According to the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), the first…
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Why Ghana Will No Longer Sell Cocoa To Switzerland
A year ago, Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo became the first African leader to be invited in about 60 years on a state visit to Switzerland.
But his visit may not have gone as his host would wish as he announced that his…
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Why Ghana & Ivory Coast Should Exit Federation Of Cocoa Commerce Permanently
We recently heard of Ghana and Ivory Coast allegedly noticing Hershey's invading of the $400/t Living Income Differential levy agreed by the industry. This levy is meant to pay and help improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers. This…
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How Does Poverty Taste? CHOCOLATEY.
To mark the launch of the 2020 Cocoa Barometer on the first of December, Solidaridad’s Isaac Gyamfi & Heske Verburg write about the need to change gear in the cocoa industry.
WITH EVERY BITE OF OUR FAVOURITE CHOCOLATE BAR, WE SWALLOW…
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Dawn of the Living Income Differential; A Potential Major Impact on West African Cocoa Farming
This past week has seen the key start of the latest cocoa season within West Africa, which sees the introduction of the Living Income Differential put forward by the governments of the Ivory Coast and Ghana to support farmers wages. In a…
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Quantity Or Quality of Production – Does Any Of These Improve Cocoa Farmers’ Income?
For years now, the value of cocoa farmers' income keeps decreasing, whereas the cost of production and living has kept increasing.
Cocoa farmers, who ignited an industry worth over £131bn, are unable to afford the quality of life enjoyed…
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Low Income, The Major Challenge Of Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers – NOT Demographics
In my previous article on how much Cocoa Farmers earn and why we need to announce a Cocoa Emergency, we realised that household members of cocoa farmers individually lived on a daily income as low as US$0.17 / day when cultivating a…
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