Claro, a leading sustainability-oriented retail company in Switzerland has donated 10 motorbikes valued at USD 20,518.90 to Yayra Glover LTD (YGL) to support its organic cocoa extension work in Ghana.

Claro is a proponent of fair trade in Europe and leads the campaign to encourage consumers to buy ethical and sustainably produced food and agricultural products in general, artisan craftwork, fashion label, and sustainable cosmetics.

Presenting the donation, Madam Marie-Claire Pellerin, Chief Executive Officer of Claro Fair Trade said she hoped the motorbikes would help YGL’s agricultural field officers to perform their duties efficiently to make the issue of residue in cocoa beans a thing of the past.

YGL’s organic cocoa is the first choice of Fairafric, a Ghana-based German chocolate producer, who supplies Fair Trade organic chocolate of Ghana origin to Claro Fair Trade in Switzerland.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of YGL, Mr. Yayrator Glover was grateful for the donation and expressed his gratitude to Madam Marie-Claire, for her kind gesture.

He told the press in an interview that the Swiss support would greatly improve farm extension services, and help agricultural field officers to monitor the activities of over 5,000 certified organic cocoa farmers of the company, and curb chemical residue in organic cocoa in its cocoa growing enclaves.

The CEO spoke about the dangers that field officers face at work, which called for the need to have the right working tools including motorbikes, adding that it was a challenge for the company.

Mr. Glover, a social entrepreneur, said he had been frequently evaluating and earnestly changing agronomic practices of farmers in conformity to organic principles of the European Union (EU) to safeguard the company’s brand in the cocoa value chain, to produce differentiated chemical-residue-free cocoa.

We work assiduously and visit our farmers to educate them on the best farming practices to help tackle the problem of chemical residue in cocoa. Our extension work impacts farmers in the cocoa-growing areas and we sincerely hope that the donation of the motorbikes will improve the work of our field officers who constantly visit farmers in remote areas for extension work,” he said.