An ambitious project that seeks to recruit, nurture and provide alternative livelihood for the next generation of cocoa farmers has been outdoored by Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers & Marketing Union Limited.
The project dubbed ‘Young Women in Cocoa’ was initiated by the women wing of the farmer-based organization with over 100,000 cocoa farmers as members.
Over 5,000 young women in the cocoa growing communities, kasapafmonline.com understands, are expected to be recruited onto the program over the next five years.
They will be supported with various crop seedlings, including that of cocoa, take them through good agronomic practices at no cost to them, upgrade their skills or knowledge on using technological tools to improve on their yield and facilitate for them to get their own farm land.
These young women, mostly, daughters of aging cocoa farmers, for a start-up, have been provided with pieces of land secured from their parents through the assistance of the farmer-based organization, to execute the project.
President of Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative Cocoa Farmers & Marketing Union Limited, Madam Fatima Ali, told journalists on the sidelines of the farmer-based organization’s 24th Annual Delegates Conference which was held in Kumasi on Wednesday, October 3, 2018, that they initiated the move to prevent the young women from teenage pregnancy.
“We decided to do something that will encourage our young women into farming in order to take over from our farmers when they are old. After completing the Senior High School, most of these young women would want to move to the city for greener pastures and at the end of the day will end up being pregnant. We want to prevent things like this, hence, this initiative”, she noted.
The Chief of Kokofu, Barima Offe Okogyeasuo II, who outdoored this project, lauded Kuapa Kokoo for initiating such project and providing alternative livelihood to the young women in the society, especially, those in the cocoa growing communities.
He urged the beneficiaries of the project to take farming as a serious business since there abound many opportunities that will enable them realize their dreams.
