Cocoa as a cash crop has served the Ghanaian economy very well, from long before independence.
Apart from earning precious foreign exchange, the crop provided livelihoods to farmers, with many using proceeds from the tree to educate their children to become useful citizens.
Over the years, cocoa farmers have laboured behind the scenes without gaining the much-needed recognition they deserve for their efforts in making the country one of the largest producers of the cash crop in the world.
Despite being the second-biggest exporter of cocoa, Ghana’s role in the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry has remained overshadowed by countries that use her raw materials to produce the finest cocoa-based products.
For cocoa farmers to take their rightful place in the national economy, and the country its deserved place in the global chocolate industry, a change of approach is needed.
The National Chocolate Day was launched 16 years ago with the goal of boosting domestic consumption of chocolate as well as other cocoa-based products. It also presented an opportunity for Ghanaians to savour the hard work of these farmers.