Licensed buying company introduce cocoa farmers to alternative livelihood

A private licensed cocoa buying company, Agro Eco, is partnering chocolate manufacturing firm, Mondelez International, to assist farmers to maximize income from their farms.

Under an initiative farmers are being supported to overcome the annual ritual of running into financial difficulty as they introduced to inter-cropping vegetables and other food crops with cash-crops.

Ashanti Regional Manager for Agro Eco, William Albert, says farmers are faced with recurring financial challenges in lean cocoa season which negatively affect them and their extended families.

“We try to help the farmers with diversification. It shouldn’t only be cocoa but other crops that they will plant in the fields to reduce the hardship on families in the lean season”.

The scheme will make available to farmers irrigation and technical support to improve their yield.

Meanwhile, Country Lead for Mondelez International, Yaa Peprah Amekudze, believes the impact of climate change on agriculture needs national attention.

She expects frequent interaction between farmers and researchers to help mitigate the effect.

“Let us be responsive, things are changing and farmers are complaining. Even if we provide them with fertilizers, farmers will not be able to apply them because they are waiting for the rains to fall”. Yaa Peprah has said.

She spoke to Luv FM Business Report at the launch of the 3^rd Rural Service Centre at Nhyinahini in the Atwima Mponua District for training and sale of agro-chemicals.