MASO is a five year programme, focused on creating employment opportunities for the youth (aged 18-25) in Ghana’s cocoa communities.
Francis and James Ali are brother’s resident in Sefwi Appeakrom. Francis is 25 years old ,while James is 23 years old. Both brothers are cocoa farmers. Both brothers decided to become farmers after completing Senior High School. The initial motivation was survival. They were unemployed and needed an income generating activity. However, when the MASO Programme entered their community, they decided to develop farming as a profession.
The intensive training from MASO broadened their knowledge of cocoa farming especially good agricultural practices such as pruning, how to monitor and spray a diseased farm. In addition, they were “schooled “in life skills and financial management.
Ali brothers uprooting food cassava from their farm
After the training, the youth had challenges starting their own farms, as migrant farmers, access to land is a challenge in Appeakrom and the surrounding communities .That however, did not deter them. They opted to apply their new skills to their parent’s 12-acre farm.
However, a year later, they managed to secure a 3.5-acre land at Lawiekrom, out of which they have established a 1.5-acre cocoa farm . The remaining two acres are a matured cocoa farm, which the youth acquired for themselves. They have rehabilitated that farm using the good agricultural practices knowledge gained from MASO training to increase their yield.
The Ali brothers with their mother
According to their mother Mrs Ali, they have decided to hand over their family 5acres at Bedii and 7acres of a cocoa farm at Lawiekrom to Francis and James for management.
“My sons are every commitment and seriousness about cocoa farming, so they have already taken over the farms, we are aging and can no longer take care of it effectively”, she said.
Francis and James believe the practical knowledge gained from MASO has immensely helped them in their quest to become professional farmers. Cocoa farming has gone beyond an activity for survival to an economic activity. They both started saving and getting involved in other livelihood activities. Ali Francis buys maize during the harvest season, stores and sell them during the lean season when the prize goes up.
Francis and James with their mother and other siblings
Article and photos by Marvin Quartey, MASO Programme Officer, Sefwi Wiawso – Western Region
