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Yearly premium ceremony celebrates sustainable cocoa farming in Asante Bekwai.

juli 31, 2017 10:11 am Gepubliceerd door

While the band is starting to play their first tunes, the beautiful St Francis Anglican church in Asante Bekwai, Ghana, is filling up with cocoa farmers. Today the farmers and project partners gather to celebrate their work in making cocoa farming more sustainable and improving living standards in the farmer communities. 

Together with local buying company Cocoa Merchants ltd, Nestlé Cocoa Plan, and the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), Cocoanect is supporting the farmer communities in the Asante Bekwai region. From every farmer group, several representatives traveled to Bekwai to join today’s celebrations.

The importance of the ceremony becomes clear when accompanied by a string of assistants and musicians, the local district chief arrives. Four men pound their traditional drums loudly, as the chief takes the center seat on the stage where he is respectfully greeted.

During the opening prayer and following speeches the 288 farmers listen attentively. Cocoanect’s head of sustainability André van den Beld, the managing director of Cocoa Merchants, a representative from Cocoabod and the municipal chief executive are among the speakers taking the stage.

With the support of Nestlé Cocoa Plan, a Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) has been implemented. Charles Ofusu Ansong, an International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) field associate, takes the opportunity to explain the farmers about the importance of the CLMRS. First, he asks the community facilitators, who collect data for the CLMRS system, to stand up. After a loud applause, the purchasing clerks (cocoa buyers from each village) are asked to present themselves. He does this to boost cooperation.  “It is crucial they work together” he further explains after the ceremony, “purchasing clerks know the farmers well, so they can assist the community facilitators in their duties to monitor and educate the farmers on child labour. Having so many farmers together makes this ceremony a good time to restate this message“.

While a lot of information is shared during the ceremony, it is also a time for celebration. During internal inspection throughout the year, some farmers have shown they take meticulous care of their farm or their duties as a community facilitator or purchasing clerk. Wellington boots and bottles of fertilizer are among the gifts which are handed out to these farmers to applaud their hard work.

Following the gifts, the stage is cleared to make room to reveal the big cheque. The sustainability premiums for the ‘16/’17 season add up to 885,950.0 cedis (approx. 173,651.50 EUR). This means 12 cedis extra per bag, Cocoanect’s André van den Beld explains. While presenting the cheque, it is emphasized that the premium should be considered as a welcome bonus, but that the main objective remains the improvement of farming practices and the community programs to truly bring a change in farmers’ lives.

With regard to improving farming practices, 5500 bags of fertilizers will be made available to the farmers for purchasing on a micro credit basis. It is also announced that the coming months the project will expand to the Konongo, Juaso and Twifo Arabeso regions to reach even more farmers.

With some final tunes from the band and final thank you speeches, the ceremony has come to an end. The farmers gather outside for a group photo, while chatting with their neighbours and proudly showing the gifts they received. Cocoa Merchants’ sustainability manager Stanley Asante looks pleased the event went well. Seeing the farmers leaving the church he comments with a smile “we will definitely need a bigger venue next year”.

While the band is starting to play their first tunes, the beautiful St Francis Anglican church in Asante Bekwai, Ghana,…