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.  

5 Shia: Big Meals, Small Gestures

The rain falls gentle and soothing throughout the night but I am wide-awake at 2 am with a stuffed nose, burning throat and throbbing headache. I dread to think I’m coming down with a bug to spoil my trip. I remember I threw a trusty Vicks inhaler in my first aid kit when packing. So I use the feeble torch light to find it and instantly my nose is cleared and I’m pleased with my forward planning!

I pop two paracetamol and dab lavender oil on my temples and I’m feeling better and drifting off to sleep, lulled by a tuneful choir of frogs and cicadas.

Doris has made a massive bowl of porridge for us three for breakfast and we only manage to eat a fraction and Anna is concerned about wasting food so asks Justus to request that Doris reduces the quantity without causing offence. Her traditional food is delicious, although very high in carbs and a recipe for rapid weight gain!

Childminding is universal. It is impossible to concentrate on my work while watching Emmanuela for Doris who has gone to a Parent-Teacher meeting. The pretty toddler is parading in her best dress for a photo session. I take some snaps and resume typing on my laptop but she is bored and restless and wants my attention.

We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a storybook I packed to read to children in the orphanage. I realise that these children don’t have all the foods the caterpillar devours. No apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, chocolate cake, ice-cream, pickles, Swiss cheese, salami, lollipops, cherry pie, sausages or cupcakes…but yes! They do have watermelon! I’m wondering if this book was a dumb choice for Ghanaian children used to simple foods.

Anna and Gabi are back from visiting the neighbouring schools to organise the Frisbee Championships and she recounts a hair-raising journey with the two of them on the back of a motor bike driven by a local guy along bumpy back tracks, strewn with rocks and water-filled pot holes and flooded bogs. At one terrifying point they were going down a steep cliff when the brakes failed but somehow they averted a crash and returned unscathed to tell the tale!

I must admit I’m glad I missed that little adventure! I prefer my vehicles to have four wheels, sides and a roof! (Throw in air conditioning and my favourite CDs, now that’s the way to travel!)    

I am feeling a little lost this afternoon, taken to my room to read the guide book about the final leg of my stay on the coast at Elima and I try to phone to book a hotel but can’t get through so resign myself to just showing up knowing there is sure to be a room in this off-peak season!

I sit outside to catch a breath of cool air and Justus joins me to discuss the finer points of investment in the cocoa project and suddenly I am embarrassingly pouring sweat until I look like I’ve just emerged from a swimming pool, literally dripping wet! I excuse myself to have a shower (bucket wash!)

Ironically the hardest challenge for me is not the basic living conditions but the sweltering humidity and at this stage of life I appreciate the brisk chill of London! Sun-lovers say I’m nuts to prefer a cold climate but that’s what menopause does to us former beach bunnies in middle age!

Doris introduces her mother, Olivia and beautiful slender sister Rose and her younger blossoming sister Fosti. I offer to take some family photos of them with the children and get prints and post to Doris when I get home. I don’t like the hassle of getting prints these days now we’re all digital but I figure it’s a small gesture.

After another filling meal of spicy rice and corn on the cob we sit outside and Doris compliments my dress, a strapless tropical print I bought for a few pounds from Primark. She says: “You give it to me.” It sounds rude but the guide book points out this is a common direct way Ghanaians ask for what they want of white visitors! I like her assertiveness!

I ponder for a second and say ‘Sure’. It is the least I can give as a thank you for her cooking. The sad irony is we can buy cheap clothes in rich countries because they are made in poor countries by exploited labour. So I give back to a woman living in poor conditions a cheap dress she can’t afford. I am not a do-gooder. It is just a very unfair world.

I hope one day we can eliminate poverty and inequality. Meantime we can make a small difference whenever we can.     

2 Shia: Touring the Village Brings Insight

Heavy shoes are required. Justus is leading Anna and Gabi and me on a tour of the village today to view the Madventurer projects. We walk along the red dirt High Street greeted by locals tending their shops, our white faces a source of curiosity but being with the respected village elder, it is clear we are guests and dazzling smiles make us welcome.

First stop is a run-down, closed-up house that Justus explains belonged to his cousin, now deceased, which Madventurer can use to accommodate volunteers while they renovate the old disused post office converting it to a MAD house for future volunteers.

We enter the musty old building full of broken furniture and junk and salvage a grubby old foam mattress and dusty pillows and some useful items, making the most of available resources, rather than just chucking stuff away as we do back home.

When Justus shows us inside the derelict post office, I can’t help thinking it needs a visit from the TV crew of Sixty Minute Make-Over. However an enthusiastic team of hard-working MAD volunteers will clean, repair, paint and perform a miracle in a matter of weeks! 

We wander across the road through the lush fields to the School and meet the teachers and peep into classrooms of children in their neatly pressed terracotta and peach uniforms who laugh and greet us with “Ye-Vo, Ye-Vo”.

Justus points out the impressive toilet block that was built by Madventurer some years ago however the toilets aren’t working because the plumping is broken and I realise the school and the whole village is in desperate need of plumbers. Proper sanitation brings hygiene and transforms the quality of life.

We visit the Madventurer building now being used as a kitchen by ladies to cook the children their mid-day meal of Banku. We watch them roll maize dough into balls and wrap them in leaves to bake in coals.

At the kindergarten, the three-year-olds are sitting with straight backs in little chairs in rows on the verandah. All of the children are curious with wide eyes and toothy smiles and giggles but one little boy starts crying and runs for cover and another little girl sobs inconsolably at the sight of three big white skinned people! I say to Justus “We must look like ghosts!” and he laughs and agrees!

We meet the headmaster and Anna discusses plans for a sports project with a team of Frisbee players from the UK coming out later this summer. The Ghanaian children are legendary football players and athletes but Frisbee will be a new experience!

Justus shows us a sturdy pavilion constructed by Madventurer volunteers to be used by senior students for Technical studies in carpentry, plumbing and electrics however without equipment there are no classes so the building stands empty. I register another desperate need for training in the trades. 

When we visit the neighbouring Evangelical Presbyterian school, an elegant teacher is conducting lessons in a rickety building, clearly in need of repair or replacing altogether.

        

The excited children rapidly cluster together for a photos, jostling for front position and squeal with delight when we show them the pictures!

Visiting the school is a delightful experience and like most Ye-Vo’s, my heart is instantly captured by the beautiful, exuberant children with their irresistible big brown eyes, dazzling smiles, tight curls, enthusiasm for learning and good manners.

Continuing our tour around Shia village of around 3000 residents, we visit the impressive Catholic temple and church, the busy clinic which treats people from the whole region and we meet the charming midwife who delivers babies and runs the other and baby health checks.

We wander along dusty streets past humble houses bustling with everyday life and head back to the main street to shop for fresh, free range eggs, palm nut butter and a face washer to mop up the constant perspiration.

This afternoon Head of Madventurer and Shia Chief of Development John Lawler arrives with four pretty young students from Newcastle University. Laura is President of the Students’ Union and Harriet, Sophie and Rosie have been volunteering at an orphanage.

The girls will sleep on mattresses on the floor in my room so they dump their back packs and we all set off to see Justus’ Cocoa farm. It is well established with six-year-old trees yielding healthy yellow pods and a nursery of seedlings ready for planting.

Justus is the driving force behind forming a cocoa farmers union and he has 35,000 seedlings to distribute. Along with Madventurer’s help, the farmers aim to take the industry to the next level. Instead of selling the raw beans to the National Cocoa Board, they want to manufacture and export cocoa powder, which would bring in more revenue, jobs and prosperity for the region.

It’s an exciting project. As John explains Madventurer’s goals are to assist with the community’s basic needs, then education and finally industry and employment. And cocoa growing is perfect for the Volta region’s climate and conditions.

On the way back we spring an impromptu visit on Justus’ nephew Martin who has ingeniously come up with a sideline in his retirement of distilling a potent spirit from the sap of Palm trees. So we savour the Apotesi, which is surprisingly smooth and I imagine that a chocolate liquor would go down a treat around English fireplaces!

We also pay a formal visit to one of the esteemed chiefs and John brings a customary gift of two bottles of Schnapps. The chief makes us welcome in his community and promises our safety. We assemble in the garden for a group photo for the archives.

Justus is tireless and wants to show John and the girls the proposed MAD House but I am flagging so opt to return to the house to refreshen up with a wash, a cup of tea and lie down and maybe even upload my photos. But I discover the girls have locked the room and taken the key so I languish hot and sweaty on the verandah.

When Clinton appears, I show him how my camera works and he races off to practice his creativity. Later I show him how to upload and crop the images on my laptop. He grasps the skill quickly with a budding talent for photography!

We dine on Doris’ simple dish of rice and spicy vegetables and settle in for some socialising, chatting with the girls about their impressions of life in Ghana and their ambitions after graduation. We retire early to allow John and Justus to catch up on village business over a glass of red wine.