Thursday, August 9, 2012

The Shia Bliss of Reviving the Cocoa Industry in Ghana



I am sitting in the tropical home of Justus Avudzivi. I have come a long way, eagerly clutching my trusty little silver recorder, for this face-to-face interview with the respected village elder. To be precise, I’ve journeyed six hour on a flight, 3158 miles from London to Accra followed by another four-hour, 160 miles rough ride in a crowded tro-tro, sweating and bouncing, to this remote, impoverished village of Shia, in the orange dirt Volta region of Ghana, Africa.

This is as authentic as it gets for a mildly intrepid reporter. No skype call for me. I’m here on the ground, meeting the distinguished man in the flesh. And Justus, with the gravitas of his 77 years, is a man with a vision, a compelling grand plan that will transform this poor village where he was born and bestow a lasting legacy of real substance.

What’s on his mind is chocolate! Not just a common mid-afternoon craving. Justus wants to revive the once-flourishing cocoa industry to create a sustainable income stream for some 500 farmers and their families for generations to come. 

Justus was a teenager when the cocoa industry was thriving in a golden era in the late 40s and 50s. His father, a successful cocoa farmer, could afford to send seven children to good schools and universities.

A solid education set up Justus for a distinguished career as a top corporate accountant and internal auditor with Shell and Texaco based in Accra and travelling widely. After ‘retirement’ he built a thriving consultancy and then ventured into a dynamic transport business before returning to his home village of Shia in 2000 and embracing the challenge of horticulture. 

He explains: “My father was a cocoa farmer. This cocoa farm I have now I inherited from my own father. He started the farm in 1915. I went to school because of my father’s hard work and all my brothers and cousins went to school because of our family’s cocoa farms. One cousin became an ambassador to the United States. My generation, born in 1935, is the cream of the crop thanks to the cocoa industry.”

The sense of gratitude in Justus is deep. “I owe my success to my father’s farm. After the war in 1945, we enjoyed the benefits of that prosperity. But tragically that industry, the hope of these villages, has declined and we want to bring it back to life for future generations.”

When fires ravaged and destroyed hundreds of cocoa farms in 1983, the demoralised farmers never recovered. They lacked the cash and emotional resilience to replant their crops. Their small plots languished for more than 20 years and the villages slumped into entrenched poverty … until 2005 that is.

Seven years ago, Justus was consumed with a vision and heartfelt passion to revive the cocoa industry so that future generations could also reap the benefits he had enjoyed growing up: education, jobs, income and community prosperity.

And now in June 2012, I am interviewing Justus, as a guest in his tropical home set in the vibrant main street of Shia. My trip has been organised through Madventurer, a not-for-profit travel company dedicated to encouraging UK people, young and old, to volunteer and contribute to charitable projects in developing countries.

As this articulate elderly gentleman tells his story I am mesmerised and drawn in to share his optimistic but realistic dream.

The small village of Shia, with a population of 3000, is one of 12 villages, with populations totaling 30,000, in the Norvisi Development Union (NORDU) in the Volta region in eastern Ghana, on the border of Togo.

Set deep in the Volta Basin, a lush tropical paradise cradled by mountains, Lake Volta and the Volta River, the NORDU district is ideal for growing cocoa plantations.

Justus says: “The conditions here are idyllic with rich soil and high rainfall. Cocoa trees just thrive. Each tree grows as high as six meters and produces around 60 pods each harvest. And there are three harvests each year. Cocoa growing has the potential to once again become a booming industry here.”

However the farmers faced almost insurmountable problems when working their small plots in isolation. So Justus, using his eloquent powers of persuasion at countless public meetings, has formed the Cocoa Farmers Association bringing together up to 500 humble farmers to forge collective strength.

To jump-start the farms, Justus underwent rigorous training in propagation and started growing his own seedlings. From 2007 he produced a staggering 10,000 seedlings a year, and when the farmers couldn’t afford to buy them he generously gave away batches for free.

Right now Justus needs help to subsidise 250,000 seedlings to get the plantations underway and the MAD (Make A Difference) Foundation has set up the Shia Bliss Chocolate Project.
  
Founder of the MAD Foundation, John Lawler says: "We hope that someone out there, be it an individual looking to give back, or a group looking to adopt this Project, will contact us so we can help Justus and the rest of the NORDU communities make this income-generation dream a reality."  

In his grand plan, Justus aims to oversee bumper harvests over the next three years with the goal of establishing a factory to convert the beans into cocoa powder.

He says if the farmers could export cocoa powder, rather than sell raw beans to the Cocoa Board at fixed prices, they could maximise income for the growers and their communities.

“We need a foreign investor with the right kind of heart to help build a factory to enable this industry to flourish for the benefit of the farmers and their families, “ says Justus.

Cocoa growing is an ethical and worthwhile enterprise. After all pure cocoa is being lauded as the ‘Food of the Gods’ and a trendy ‘Super Food’ across the UK, Europe and US. Packed full of nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, good fats and feel-good stimulants, what is not to love about quality dark chocolate?

Flourishing cocoa farms is a realistic dream in this idyllic lush paradise with the perfect climate and conditions to produce highly nutritious, top grade cocoa.

Justus says: “Who knows, a humble cocoa powder factory may develop to become a full-scale cocoa products factory - churning out products like chocolate, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor - you name it. This will integrate NORDU into the thriving eco-tourism industry in the Volta Region."

If anyone can revive the cocoa industry, Justus can. As a respected elder in Shia and well connected throughout Ghana and abroad through his distinguished career in finance and business, he can make it happen in partnership with an investor who shares his vision.

As father of six, grandfather of nine and mentor to countless young people in his village, Justus is determined to leave a legacy that will transform life for future generations. Clearly, reviving the cocoa growers’ glory days of the past is the way of the future for this blessed region of Ghana.