Kuapa Kokoo marks two decades of empowering poor cocoa farmers

The success of Kuapa Kokoo is vindication of the vision that, given a fairer opportunity, smallholder farmers can direct and improve their own lives and communities, and be stewards of a sustainable cocoa farming business, observed Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate UK.

The idea of forming a farmer-owned organization was conceived in 1993 by Nana Yaw Frimpong Abebrese II when the government of Ghana liberalized the internal marketing of cocoa.

Nana Yaw’s quest was to change the paradigm of the rich exploiting the poor by forming a company of the farmers, by the farmers and for the farmers.

The goal, according to Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo Limited, Emmanuel Arthur, was to ensure Ghanaian cocoa farmers would take the price of their produce, share the profits from the produce and have a say in their produce.

A UK-based not-for-profit organization, TWIN, aligned itself with the vision to assist the farmers in both technical and financial support to establish the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union.

Mr. Arthur says the farmers have over the past two decades defined the direction of the organization as “have a say in the way their organization is run and how their profits should be distributed”.

In the 1993/1994 crop year, the Union mobilized about 1,250 metric tonnes of cocoa from 2,000 members.

Today, the cocoa farmers’ co-operative is mobilizing about 61,000 metric tonnes of cocoa from about 90,000 members. They are delivering more than 5% of Ghana’s cocoa and approximately 1% of the world’s cocoa.

Through the increase in Fairtrade sales, schools have been built, medical teams have attended to farmers at their doorstep through a mobile clinic project, cutlasses have been distributed to members and boreholes have been built to improve on farmers’ livelihoods.

“We are still negotiating with our Fairtrade partners and Fairtrade International to ensure that the farmers continue to benefit from Fairtrade premiums through increased Fairtrade sales,” said Ms Fatima Ali, President of the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers’ Union.

Members of the Union in 1997 voted to launch their investments in Divine Chocolate Limited based in the UK – the farmers presently own 45% shares in the chocolate company which sells products in about 12 countries, including the US.

“Kuapa Kokoo has shown that fair remuneration, for a job and skill that people get wonderful benefit from all around the world, is well invested,” said Ms. Tranchell.

She added that the farmers’ organization has demonstrated how democracy, accountability and transparency has empowered the poor farmer, historically exploited and marginalized in the chocolate supply chain.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh