IS THERE ANY LINK? – INCREASED LOCAL PROCESSING AND COCOA FARMERS’ INCOME?
cocoadiaries.substack.com
Anytime, the topics of low income and worsening livelihood of cocoa farmers are raised in Ghana, people mistakenly assume Ghana to be the cocoa farmer and they argue in their response that Ghana needs to add value to its cocoa beans to improve its farmers’ livelihoods. However, what is forgotten is that Ghana is a country and the cocoa farmer is an individual. Hence matters of value-addition in the cocoa sector should not be measured only on the macro-economic benefits it creates but also on the micro-economic benefits which include how it improves the individual farmer’s income, industry value capture and livelihood. This article is not debunking value addition but rather questioning the relevance of if it doesn’t improve the livelihoods, income and or value capture of smallholder cocoa farmers.
IS THERE ANY LINK? – INCREASED LOCAL PROCESSING AND COCOA FARMERS’ INCOME?
IS THERE ANY LINK? – INCREASED LOCAL…
IS THERE ANY LINK? – INCREASED LOCAL PROCESSING AND COCOA FARMERS’ INCOME?
Anytime, the topics of low income and worsening livelihood of cocoa farmers are raised in Ghana, people mistakenly assume Ghana to be the cocoa farmer and they argue in their response that Ghana needs to add value to its cocoa beans to improve its farmers’ livelihoods. However, what is forgotten is that Ghana is a country and the cocoa farmer is an individual. Hence matters of value-addition in the cocoa sector should not be measured only on the macro-economic benefits it creates but also on the micro-economic benefits which include how it improves the individual farmer’s income, industry value capture and livelihood. This article is not debunking value addition but rather questioning the relevance of if it doesn’t improve the livelihoods, income and or value capture of smallholder cocoa farmers.