Coffee cultivation is starting to pick up in Ghana
Officially launched in 2011, the Revamp Coffee Project (CRP) was organised by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) as an attempt to revitalise the decaying coffee industry in the West African country.
Now, four years down the line, the results are becoming quantifiable – and they’re quite promising.
Since the project started, some 2,000 hectares of land has been set aside for the primary purpose of growing coffee. The majority of this ‘green’ space – 900 hectares – can be found in the Dormaa region of the country, which has become the central hub for COCOBOD’s efforts.
This is promising news for a country that is effectively starting over again when it comes to coffee cultivation. By no means a thriving industry or an established agricultural sector, coffee farmers found buyers hard to come by and after incurring losses many of them destroyed entire plantations. The nation’s industry subsequently collapsed like a house of cards in a strong gale as farmer after farmer abandoned coffee for more lucrative crops such as maize.
With the increased amount of land available for coffee cultivation, GhanaWeb estimates that there are 100 farmers actively involved in this initiative, with a number of them associated with the Dormaa Arena Coffee Farmers’ Association (DACFA), which is helping to provide support, education and equipment to those turning to the bean.
Under the CRP, allied farmers are given free seedlings once they have suitably prepared their plots of land and also have access to financial incentives on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
DACFA’s Chairman, Kissinger Agyeman, expressed his thanks for the work of COCOBOD, stating: “We are happy that coffee farmers are now being assisted to [set up] new farms with improved seedlings which can [hopefully] give us better yields.”
The results so far have been promising: Last year, 2,500 tonnes of coffee was produced in Ghana, with the aim going forward to reach 10,000 tonnes in the next few years as the coffee trees begin to take root and mature.
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