President of Kuapa Kokoo ; Madam Fatima Ali
Kuapa Kokoo is calling on government and national security apparatus to help stop the growing trend of armed robberies against their staff.
Madam Fatima Ali; President of Kuapa Kokoo who was speaking at the 25th Annual Delegates Conference of Kuapa Kokoo at Miklin Hotel in Kumasi lamented that armed robbers are really making life unbearable for their workers.
She sadly recollected a recent occurrence where one of their staff was shot and killed in one such robbery attack.
Madam Fatima Ali also touched on the theme for the AGM “Building Strategic Partnerships to reduce Hunger and end extreme Poverty (SDG 1&2&17)”.
” It is our belief that, strong partnerships built on transparency, mutual interest, ethical principles of doing business and based on the core values of caring for the common good of humanity; that is, making the poor and the vulnerable the focal point our every endeavor, would lead to achieving the goals set for ourselves. Progress towards achieving this set goal is moving at a steady but promising pace as efforts are being made to engage the huge Kuapa Kokoo family that transcends the length and breadth of the cocoa regions of Ghana apart from the Volta region.”
She stressed that the ultimate goal of Kuapa Kokoo is to be the ‘preferred choice’ in both national and international circles; a goal she says has led the Kuapa Kokoo brand to attract various national and multinational organizations across various fields including IT, Research & Development, Banking & Finance, governance & Rural Development, Policy & Advocacy, livelihood and environmental sustainability; health and wellbeing amongst others.
She believes “the diversity of these partners would lead to the creation of a web of networks which is crucial for the survival and the sustainability of our organization in a fast changing global landscape” .
TeleAgric Center take-off
Madam Fatima Ali announced the piloting of the Kuapa Kokoo TeleAgric Center at Ofoase in the Ejisu-Juabeng district. “Over 500 farmers have received smartphones with support from Roots Capital and Millennium Promise Alliance. The smartphones are installed with applications that would help our farmers in lot of ways such as to help early detection of diseases, ensure plant health, increased yield and, reduce pre and post-harvest losses in farms. This would enable the farmer to reduce operational cost of farm maintenance and have more produce from the farm to sell in order to save and support the family”, she said.
She stated that registration of farmers towards full-scale implementation is already on course.
Gender Mainstreaming in the Cocoa Sector
Kuapa Kokoo President, Madam Fatima Ali noted that the Kuapa Kokoo Gender program which is geared towards empowering women and their participation in the business and the governance of the organization has led to an increased female membership from 33% to over 35%. She said the increase is partly due to the skills training, gender justice, micro-credit schemes and alternative livelihood projects which have been extended to women groups in the various societies.
She emphasised that the women groups in the various zones will be resourced to act as drivers of change in order to impact their communities and largely, the nation as a whole.
MD for Kuapa Kokoo; Mr. Samuel Adimado
Managing Director of Kuapa Kokoo ; Mr. Samuel Adimado advised farmers to accept cashless payment arrangements instituted by the organization to reduce the availability of cash that attracts armed robbers.
He stated that Kuapa Kokoo is working closely with the police to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book and also help prevent future occurrences.
Some Kuapa Kokoo Delegates at the conference
Mr. Emmanuel Opoku, Deputy Director in charge of Operations at COCOBOD, who represented the COCOBOD CEO; Joseph Boahen Aidoo stressed the need for the farmers to join cooperatives in order to reap maximum benefits from government’s policies and interventions. He explained that priority will be given to farmers who are part of cooperatives as his outfit puts together a comprehensive database of cocoa farmers and their accreages under cultivation. He praised Kuapa Kokoo for their proactive moves towards the wellbeing of their members and their livelihoods.
