{"id":35648,"date":"2023-02-27T06:58:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T06:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/uncategorized\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers"},"modified":"2023-02-27T07:31:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T07:31:54","slug":"disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers","title":{"rendered":"Disability awards: COCOBOD honours 15 blind farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ghana. <\/strong><\/span>The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has honoured 15 visually impaired cocoa farmers from three cocoa-producing regions for their immense contribution to the success of the cocoa industry in Ghana.<\/b><\/p>\n

The farmers, aged between 50 to 78 years have been working for 15 to 60 years with seven of them still active.<\/p>\n

They were drawn from Asikuma, Assin Fosu, Twifo Praso, and Dunkwa in the Central Region; Manso Amenfi, Elubo, and Daboase in the Western Region, and Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region.<\/p>\n

Mr Kofi Esuon, an awardee, was honoured posthumously at the novel awards ceremony held in Cape Coast on Friday.<\/p>\n

With support from the Agricultural Manufacturing Group Limited (AMG Ghana) and Mondelez Cocoalife International, each of the blind farmers received undisclosed sums of cash, six bags of fertilizer, two pairs of Wellington boots, two cutlasses, chocolates, and other Cocoa products.<\/p>\n

Rev Edwin Afari, Executive Director, Cocoa Health, and Extension Division, COCOBOD, said the gesture was a novelty to reward and motivate less privileged cocoa farmers, particularly Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), who were indispensable to Ghana\u2019s cocoa value chain.<\/p>\n

He commended the blind farmers for defying all odds to commit to cocoa farming, the backbone of the country\u2019s economy and many individual families.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisability is not inability and so you can do everything you put your mind to.<\/p>\n

\u201cSight is not in eyes alone but also in the heart and mind; if you work diligently with your heart and mind, that is a special kind of sight,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Rev Afari expressed concern over the aging population of cocoa farmers, citing the attendant looming dire impact on the economy and general development.<\/p>\n

He expressed worry that many young people were not interested in agriculture in spite of the vast prospects in the sector.<\/p>\n

He, admonished the youth, including professionals from all fields, to venture into agriculture, particularly cocoa to create wealth for themselves and the country.<\/p>\n

He indicated that this year, COCOBOD would focus on cocoa pruning, and undertake pollination and pest control exercises to help increase the country\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did 1.47 million tonnes last two years but last year was not too good because of the weather and so we came down to about 683,000 tonnes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are targeting 850,000 tonnes this year and we are doing very well for the main crop season,\u201d he indicated, adding that the company was always available to offer support to all cocoa farmers facing challenges on their farms.<\/p>\n

While commending the partners supporting them, Rev Afari indicated that the awards would be expanded to include other PWDs when they got more sponsors.<\/p>\n

Nana Kwesi Ofori, the Central Regional Chief Farmer, urged the public to take inspiration from the commitment and achievements of the blind farmers.<\/p>\n

He also appealed to COCOBOD, government and civil society organisations to support PWDs to thrive in the cocoa industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet this not be a nine-day wonder. It should continue to motivate everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some of the awardees who spoke to the press after the event expressed excitements and gratitude for the honour and recognition.<\/p>\n

Mr Kwesi Adu said \u201cI was farming before I went blind, but I never gave up. I motivated myself even harder, and with support of the people around me, I am doing better than others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to COCOBOD for their support,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Ghana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ghana. The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has honoured 15 visually impaired cocoa farmers from three cocoa-producing regions for their immense contribution to the success of the cocoa industry in Ghana. The farmers, aged between 50 to 78 years have been working for 15 to 60 years with seven of them still active. They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[5092,5096,429],"class_list":["post-35648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-ghana","tag-ghana"],"yoast_head":"\nDisability awards: COCOBOD honours 15 blind farmers - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has honoured 15 visually impaired cocoa farmers from three cocoa-producing regions f ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disability awards: COCOBOD honours 15 blind farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has honoured 15 visually impaired cocoa farmers from three cocoa-producing regions f ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-27T06:58:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-27T07:31:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/sites\/18\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677468525.77.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Disability awards: COCOBOD honours 15 blind farmers\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-27T06:58:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-27T07:31:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\"},\"wordCount\":567,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/sites\/18\/2023\/02\/postQueueImg_1677468525.77.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Ghana\",\"ghana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/disability-awards-cocobod-honours-15-blind-farmers\",\"name\":\"Disability awards: COCOBOD honours 15 blind farmers - 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