Most youth in rural areas usually have limited opportunities to find jobs or start a business. For youth, in the cocoa-producing communities where the Next Generation Cocoa Programme (MASO) operates, the story is different. Through the MASO Business Academy, youth are trained to become entrepreneurs in their communities. The objective of the Business Academy is

Recently at the Solidaridad@50 event in the Netherlands, Mawuse Hotor, a 26-year-old cocoa farmer delivered a keynote address. Mawuse is a beneficiary of Solidaridad’s MASO cocoa academy and is now the proud owner of her cocoa farm. “The future of cocoa farming lies in the hands of the youth,” she said in her speech, full

” Life wasn’t fun when I completed Junior High School with no job and any source of income for at least three years. The only option available was farming, which I never considered a viable  career choice ”. These were the words of Godwin Lumor, a 24-year-old MASO youth farmer from Tonkoase No. 2, a

The MASO Programme was established to help create employment opportunities in the cocoa sector for Ghanaian youth. This MASO has done by providing agronomic and business skills to the youth. In addition, the programme provides life skills including Sexual Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) and Legal Literacy. Reproductive health and legal literacy although was not part

Three years ago, the MASO Programme hit the ground running across five regions of Ghana. We sensitized young using whatever means that was available in cocoa growing communities; from Community Information Centers, radio discussions, community dubars etc. Following the intensive public engagements, we selected our first cohort of young men and women to train them

The story of Asuma Godfred Patterson, a MASO  youth in  Bopa community, in the Akontombra district of the Western region, has inspired a great number of young people in his vicinity. Godfred currently provides various essential services to residents of Bopa. Before he started providing these services, he  joined the MASO Programme to learn more

Most youth in rural areas complain about lack of opportunities to undertake any gainful economic activities beyond farming. A venture they are also not too keen on going into because they say, it involves a lot of hard work. The MASO Programme over the last three year developed various training models to motivate and train