KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

development projects

World cocoa production is projected to grow at a rate of 2.2 percent a year, reaching annual production of 3.7 million tonnes by 2010. Increased demand provides farmers in West Africa, Asia and Latin America with an ideal opportunity to improve their livelihoods, but it also means they must be able to deal with the growing range of challenges that face their crop, such as pests, diseases and climate change impacts.

so what’s the problem?Cocoa occupies a key position in Ghana’s economy, providing vital foreign exchange and domestic income. To support this industry, the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) was established.

CRIG has the knowledge and research technologies that can enable Ghana’s cocoa farmers to increase the amount of cocoa they grow to deal with environmental challenges. However, due to the rural location of smallholder farmers, and the lack of an effective communication infrastructure, relevant crop management information often fails to reach them.

cocoa hits the headlines in Ghana

locationGhana

date2006

CABI project teamKeith Holmes

contactCABI, ICRAF Complex, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, PO Box 633-00621, Nairobi, Kenya T: +254 20 72 24450 F: +254 20 71 22150 E: africa@cabi.org www.cabi.org/africa

what is this project doing?Recognizing this as a major issue, CRIG, in collaboration with Cadbury Schweppes and CABI looked to develop an effective means of transferring knowledge to smallholder farmers.

Meeting the challenge, the team developed The Ghanaian Cocoa Farmers Newspaper, a publication that would be distributed to cocoa farmers all over Ghana, informing them about good agricultural practice in cocoa.

An editorial committee was established at CRIG to select articles that would be included in the newspaper. These articles were then drawn by an artist at CRIG and sent to Cadbury Schweppes and CABI in the UK to undergo additional editing and formatting.

The final proof of the first edition of the newspaper was presented to the Daily Graphic in Accra, which printed 70,000 tabloid copies. The copies were divided among licensed buying companies, that had agreed to assist with distribution to the farmers.

Following each issue of the newspaper it was proposed that a radio broadcast in the six growing regions was aired. The broadcast would involve a scientist from CRIG who will explains the articles and allow listeners to phone in with comments and questions.

A survey was conducted by the Statistics Unit of CRIG to assess present awareness and understanding of the newspapers among farmers. Survey findings have been used to improve the overall concept for the second edition. A second survey will be conducted following the distribution of the second edition, and will assess the relevance and impact of contents among readers.

results so farThe first edition was produced in the summer of 2006 and distributed to the rural communities via licensed buying companies. Although in its infancy, the newspaper is already proving an effective communication method.

Over 70,000 copies have been produced and distributed to rural farmers, with requests for extra copies being received. The second edition of the newspaper was printed in June 2007 and we hope the newspaper will continue to be published regularly. The newspaper will be an invaluable knowledge transfer tool that will play a role in helping to sustain the future of Ghana’s cocoa industry and improve the livelihoods of rural farmers and their families.

www.cabi.org/ghanacocoa

Keith Holmes, Project Manager

partnersCocoa Research Institute of Ghana

Cadbury Schweppes

sponsorsAkuafo Adamfo Marketing Co Ltd, Armajaro (GH) Ltd

Cadbury Schweppes

Kuapa Kokoo Ltd

Olam

Produce Buying Company

Transroyal (GH) Ltd