Who Benefits In The End? The Story Of A 57-Year-Old Cocoa Farmer At Assin Breku Will Surprise You.

Sitting in a minibus from Accra to Assin Breku in the Central Region for about four and a half hours was one of the most exciting experiences I have ever had.

I have lived in Accra the whole of my life and traveling to other regions has never been my passion due to the hectic traffic and numerous potholes on our motorways.

Death indeed can sometimes make people travel to places they have never dreamt of due to the love we have for our loved ones.

Not to make my story long, pardon me as I go straight to the point at this juncture and share with you one of the interesting experiences I came across in the town of Assin Breku.

Assin North District is dominated by cocoa farmers. Mr. Kodwo Kranchie is one of the notable cocoa farmers in the town of Assin Breku.

This man is fifty-seven years old. He is married with two children, all attending Presbyterian Basic School in the district.

Mr. Kranchie was introduced to the cocoa business by his parents in the 19th century. According to him, his parents used to harvest cocoa in larger quantities. “My parents used to bag about ten cocoa seeds after harvest,” he noted.

“That joy we used to have during the cocoa season some years ago has dwindled due to the prevalence of illegal mining on our farmlands, poor remuneration of cocoa farmers, post-harvest losses, and other factors beyond our control” he noted.

There are some of my colleagues whose cocoa farms have been destroyed as a result of illegal mining commonly known as ”galamsey.”

Have you ever heard of the availability of the government Cocoa Scholarship Scheme?
“No, he replied “
“My parents, other siblings, and I used to harvest cocoa in large quantities before the demise of our parents”.

“Those of them who attended Senior High Schools did not benefit from the Scholarship Scheme. After the demise of our parents, none of us was able to continue our education”, he added.

Well, maybe Mr. Kranchie ‘s two children in the basic school will benefit from the free scholarship at the Senior High School or in the tertiary in the future.

Cocoa farmers are well-known to be very rich and reserved. In the case of Mr. Kranchie, maybe I should agree with Evelyn Sultan-Fortuna who said “Rich people stay rich by living like they’re poor; Poor people stay poor by living like they’re rich!”.

At the end of our conversation, I didn’t want to leave my new friend at Assin Breku without getting in touch with him. I decided to request for his contact to be able to get in touch with him but to my surprise, Mr. Kranchie whose daughter, unfortunately, dropped his phone as he said “Drop that yam” in the water, has not been able to purchase a new gadget in replacement.

Below is Mr. Kodwo Kranchie drying his cocoa seeds