Archive - Cocoa Diaries Newsletter

Part 4: Until the Lion Tells His Story (The Cocoa Farmer)

…….. Global Parallels and the Way Forward

Jun 16 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

Part 3: Tracing the Cocoa Value Chain – Who Earns What?

Previously, I argued that calling our farmers “independent businessmen” is more convenient fiction than reality.

Jun 9 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

May 2025

Part 2: Monkey Dey Work, Baboon Dey Chop: The Myth of the Independent Cocoa Farmer

In the previous piece, I scrutinised a pension scheme that treats farmers like formal employees in one breath and like second-class citizens in the…

May 26 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

[Part One] Ghana’s Cocoa Farmer Pension Paradox: A Four-Part Series Op-Ed

When a Bird Builds Its Nest, Who Gets the Shade?

May 19 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

What are we tracing: The Cocoa Farmer or the Farmer's quality of life

Cocoa Traceability, Small Farmers, Big Burdens

May 5 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

April 2025

The Empty Promises of Cocoa Traceability Today

Continuing on from Part One of our Cocoa Transparency system

Apr 28 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

Tracing the Roots of Cocoa Traceability as a Current Buzzword whose impact we are yet to know

“However far a stream flows, it never forgets its source.” This old African proverb echoes a simple truth: origins matter.

Apr 14 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

March 2025

[My Reflections from Afar] Another Sponsored World Cocoa Foundation's 2025 Partnership Meeting Just Ended

why justice always seems to need a stage, a microphone, and a corporate sponsor to be heard.

Mar 24 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

What is a Fair Price for Chocolate? - Asking for a Friend

There are many ongoing discussions about a "fair price" for cocoa farmers.

Mar 10 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

February 2025

The Cocoa Inequality Trap: By Design, Not by Accident

It can be argued by many that the ongoing inequality in the cocoa sector, where farmers remain trapped in poverty despite the billions generated by the…

Feb 24 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

Cancer or Cuts? Revisited: Why the Cocoa Sector Needs the Right Kind of Technology

When I first penned "Cancer or Cuts?" to examine the impact of technology in the cocoa sector, the response was overwhelming.

Feb 10 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

January 2025

Cancer or Cuts? How Technology in Ghana's Cocoa Sector is Designed to Create the Problem It Seeks to Solve

In this piece, I argued how technology within the cocoa sector in producing countries like Ghana is not merely solving problems but instead introducing…

Jan 27 •

Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts