MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
Patience Normenyo, is a 25-year-old resident of Tweapease in New Edubiase in the Adansi South District of the Ashanti Region. She is one of the thousands of young people breathing new life into cocoa production in Ghana.
She joined the MASO Programme in 2017 and trained as a cocoa entrepreneur. Her new skills in cocoa agronomy has opened more doors for her. Patience has been recruited and trained by the Ghana Cocoa Board to undertake hand pollination as a technique to increase cocoa yield in Ghana. She is very excited about her role.
“We are making sure the number of cocoa pods on trees increases through hand pollination, I can’t wait to see the pods grow in abundance for the farmers”, she said.
Patience dropped out of Senior High School due to financial constraints. Unlike other youth in her community, who as a result of limited opportunities travel to urban areas for greener pastures, she stayed to support her parents on their farm. This she did until MASO entered her community to recruit it’s second cohorts of trainees. She enrolled in the Cocoa Academy to train as a cocoa entrepreneur.
MASO encourages the youth to go beyond subsistence agriculture and to become commercial cocoa growers or service providers. The programme ensures that young people gain the skills, tools and long-term support necessary to be successful in the cocoa sector and to professionalize farming. The training provided boosted her confidence to apply for a position as Ghana Cocoa Board Cocoa pollinator in her district.
Leadership development
The MASO programme in addition to providing various skills to the youth to develop careers in the cocoa sector also builds their capacity for the future. Following leadership, gender and livelihood training provided, Patience is seeking to give back to her community. She contested the Secretary position of the Tweapease MASO Youth Network and was elected. Her new found confidence motivated her to apply to Ghana Cocoa Board as a pollinator. Having displayed deep knowledge in cocoa agronomy, she was selected ahead of hundreds of applicants as a pollinator. She did not become complacent but worked even harder during the pollination training period. Her dedication and leadership qualities earned her promotion as pollination coordinator.
Patience Normenyo with her friends in Tweapease
Life as a farmer
Although she is making some income working with COCOBOD, Patience is still committed to own cocoa farm. She has established an acre of the cocoa farm this year (2018). She plans to gradually expand her farm to 3 acres, increasing by an acre every year.
Patience is confident of her achievement’s and believes she will impact her community positively.
“I am becoming a role model for young people in Tweapease by working hard to be financially independent and also taking up leadership positions in the community”. She said.
She is grateful to MASO for training her and giving her the opportunity to exhibit her talent. She is confident and can now speak in public and is well known in her community for her efforts through the MASO Programme.
Story & Photos by Bismark Odoom, MASO Facilitator, New Edubiase
