Students learn about cocoa

Solidaridad West Africa in collaboration with TN Delfah has organized the second edition of Cocoa Learning Experience for selected second cycle students. 100 students from Accra Girls Senior High School and Ideal College undertook a two-day factory visit recently. The students visited two cocoa processing companies in Tema: Niche Cocoa Industry Limited and Cocoa Processing Company to acquire knowledge on how cocoa is processed into various chocolate products.

They were taken through the entire value chain of processing cocoa from when the beans arrive to what the beans go through before they become chocolate, cocoa powder, and other beverages.
Explaining the motivation for the ‘Cocoa Learning Experience’, the CEO of TN Delfah Travel and Tours, Mrs. Tina Amenyah, noted cocoa is Ghana’s heritage and it’s important for the youth to understand the economic value of the commodity.

“I feel that Ghanaian school children, especially those in urban areas, do not know about cocoa including how it is farmed, processed and later becoming chocolate, “she said.

Despite learning in school about Tetteh Quarshie’s cocoa farm and how Ghana became one of the largest producers of cocoa in the world, these students have never experienced how cocoa is farmed, harvested, dried, bagged, exported or sent to factories to be processed. It was an eye-opener for these young ones when they saw the science behind the making of chocolate.

TN Delfah and Solidaridad’s collaboration would help the younger generation to learn about cocoa and develop the interest in becoming agriculture entrepreneurs, besides whatever profession they may choose in life.

This is the second edition of the Cocoa Learning Experience. The first edition took place in 2017.