MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
A total of 640 young farmers from seven communities in Likpe in the Oti Region have received 2,000 cocoa seedlings from the Hohoe Municipal National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO).
The farmers belong to a group known as MASO (Solidaridad), made up of teenagers from Likpe Bakua, Bala, Kukurantumi, Abrani, Mate, Like Alavanyo and Likpe Koforidua.
Mr. Hilarius Kofi Gockel, Hohoe Municipal Director of NADMO said the initiative was part of the Organization’s plans to support individuals and groups under the Disaster Volunteer Groups (DVGs), especially farmers whose farms were destroyed by fire.
He said it was also part of government’s planting for food and jobs programme.
The Municipal NADMO Director said COCOBOD supplied 500 cocoa pods to the Organization for nursing, adding that, the Organization produced about 12,000 cocoa seedlings for distribution, part of which had been shared to individuals and farmers groups.
Mr. Gockel said after the distributions, NADMO would follow up to monitor how the seedlings were utilised.
He said there were also plans to train people on how to nurse cocoa beans into seedlings to help increase the number of cocoa seedlings produced and distributed.
Mr. Samuel Akwasi-Kotah, Facilitator of MASO told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the group was established in 2016 to train the youth to appreciate the essence and benefits of cocoa farming and to be self- employed instead of looking for non-existing jobs in urban areas.
He expressed the group’s gratitude to NADMO and COCOBOD for the support and assured that the seedlings would be utilIsed well for the desired results.
Source : Ghana News Agency
