MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
When Akua Afriyie heard an announcement in her village inviting young people interested in cocoa cultivation to a forum, she was immediately interested. After all, she was unemployed and idling in Kramokrom. So any opportunity to keep her busy and earn her an income was a welcome relief.
Three years ago, Akua Afriyie a resident of Kramokrom in the Sefwi Wiawso District, and other young men and women in her community joined the MASO Programme to trained as cocoa farmers or entrepreneurs. Although she lived in a cocoa producing community, starting her own farm was not on her list of priorities. But now, she is leading a campaign to encourage other young people in her community to consider going into farming. For Akua, MASO has impacted every facet of her life.
“I do not regret joining the MASO Programme, my life is changing”, Akua asserts.
Akua’s MASO Journey
Akua enrolled in the MASO Programme in 2016. She joined the CocoAcademy to learn how to grow cocoa in a professional manner. A year later, she started her own farm. She is now the proud owner of a 3-acre cocoa farm. In addition to her cocoa seedlings, Akua also planted plantain, cassava, and cocoyam on her farm. Though her cocoa trees are just about a year old, Akua has started earning a living from the food crops she planted on her farm to provide shade for her cocoa seedlings as well as provide income for her.
“When MASO came to our town, we felt we could not become farmers, but now I am glad I joined MASO. I earn regular income from my farm and other economic ventures,” said Akua.
Training the youth entrepreneurs
The MASO Programme goes beyond agronomic practices and infuses life skills in all its training models.
Akua like all her other colleagues in Ghana are trained in life skills, financial inclusion and the basics of entrepreneurship. Lessons she has found very useful for her economic well-being. Akua has established multiple income streams. She bought a spraying machine which she rents out to other residents for a fee and for use on her own cocoa farm.
The gains
Akua Afriyie feeding her goats
Akua has also started rearing animals for sale. She started with three goats in 2017 but now has 9 goat’s ins her backyard.
“I also have animals I am rearing and my cocoa farm is looking very good. I have also planted plantain and cassava on my farm.As a result, I harvest plantain and cassava to sell in the market. Sometimes some ladies go for the cassava to make gari. So joining MASO was very beneficial”, she said.
She has already started cashing in on produce from her farm.
“On market days which is usually on Saturdays, I am able to harvest about 10 bunches of plantain but when days on which I have harvested many more bunches, I hire people to help me carry it from the farm”, she recounted.
Akua harvested and sold two bags of maize from her farm earning her an income of Ghc 500. She made an additional Ghc 300 from the sale of cassava. She also makes a regular income of Ghc 50 cedis from her biweekly sales of bunches of plantain. She also made a sale of Ghc 150 cedis from cocoyam. For Akua, the income from her activities is a lifesaver and will surely contribute to a better livelihood for her. She said,
“There are times when things are a very hard in our community, especially during the farming season. but thanks to the training from MASO, I no longer experience the hardship”.
Akua and her peers in Kramokrom are focused on creating employment for themselves in the cocoa sector.
