COCOBOD Promotes Organic & Sustainable Cocoa Cultivation
Sustainable Jobs in Organic Agriculture (SuJA) Project
As part of efforts to support European and African companies investing in Ghana, Invest for Jobs, is collaborating with Yayra Glover Limited, Fairafric and Felchlin to promote the organic and climate smart cocoa production value chain in Ghana. This forms part of the Ghana Green Jobs Strategy agenda by the Government through the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations. The cooperation with the companies is to promote investment and sustainable decent jobs for the local Ghanaian economy
Unemployment is a key challenge facing Ghana; half of young people between the ages of 15-24 in Ghana are currently out of school and out of these 27% do not work. Of those employed, only 5% work in the cocoa sector. GIZ and its partners including Yayra Glover Limited, Fairafric and Felchlin seek to address this growing unemployment problem with a targeted project to explore the expansive and potential opportunities offered by the cocoa value chain with special focus on organic cocoa.
The ceremony kicked off and officially launched the Memorandum of Understanding with Yayra Glover Limited, Fairafric and Felchlin as well as a Grant Agreement to Yayra Glover Limited to facilitate private investments in the cocoa value chain whiles developing other value chains like herbs and spices, particularly, Ylang Ylang, lemon grass and ginger amidst other Service Contracts for service providers to provide tailor-made trainings for beneficiaries. Implementation will last till March 2023.
The project was launched on the 25 th of November 2021 at the headquarters of Yayra Glover Limited, Suhum in the Eastern Region with participants coming from the German Development Cooperation and the companies. The ceremony was accompanied with a visit by representatives of the Sector Network Rural Development (SNRD), an initiative of the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ); a network of rural development practitioners in Africa and as such a central hub for knowledge management and training. The event was held at both Yayra Glover Limited and Fairafric manufacturing facilities in Suhum and a visit to a cocoa field was meant to create a high level of awareness within the sector and the country at large while creating the stage for engagement with all stakeholders.
Under the ‘Invest for Jobs’ brand, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has put together a package of measures to support African, European and German companies and investors operating in Africa. The Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation – the official title – offers comprehensive advice, contacts, and financial support to overcome investment barriers. The Special Initiative is implemented among others by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. It offers advisory services, contacts, and financial support to investors as well as local companies to overcome their investment barriers. The objective is to create 10,000jobs and 20,000 training opportunities in Ghana by December 2023.
With the increasingly ageing cocoa farmers and tree stocks in Ghana, the project seeks to encourage young people within the cocoa growing communities to pick up key opportunities with the industry eventually taking over from the older farmers to ensure survival of the cocoa industry. Huge opportunities exist for youth and women to deliver on-farm and off farm goods and services. Improved employment opportunities within the cocoa subsector will ensure reduction in Rural-Urban migrations, improved incomes for the households leading to improved health while also empowering women and protecting the rights of children. All this is geared towards increasing the quantity and quality of cocoa beans sourced from Ghana which will lead to further investments by the company.
