Mondelez International has sent 14 of its employees from 10 countries around the world to Ghana to learn and serve in cocoa-farming communities.
The fourteen people known as Mondelez Joy Ambassadors, will work alongside the cocoa farmers in three communities in the Wassa East district to gain insight into their work and enable them to experience life in these communities.
During the two-week Learning Tour, these “Joy Ambassadors” also will interact directly with the cocoa farmers, and gain insights into the challenges and opportunities in securing a sustainable cocoa supply chain.
Also they will share their diverse business skills through the delivery of community workshops to build capacity and collaboration among local farmers and stakeholders.
Country Lead of Mondelez International Cocoa Life, Yaa Peprah Amekudzi said the Learning tour was a platform which encourages volunteerism among employees of Mondelez International staff.
She said the programme also gives them the opportunity to visit the fields and gain knowledge on the processes involved in cocoa cultivation that they will bring back to their business.
She added that the 2017 program, which is the fourth cycle, will enable cocoa farmers in Cocoa Life communities to interact with the Joy Ambassadors and learn firsthand what happens to the cocoa that they send out of Ghana; as well as meet the people behind the company’s success.
Mrs. Amekudzi said she is hopeful that the experiences they will gain on the field will inspire fresh knowledge and perspective on cocoa production.
The 2017 Joy Ambassadors are from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Russia and the United States of America.
The Joy Ambassador program is part of Mondelez International’s Impact For Growth platform, which calls for Well-being, which focuses on fueling growth and making a positive impact for posterity.
The project is funded by the Mondelez International Foundation through a partnership with VSO (formerly Voluntary Service Overseas), the world’s leading independent international development organization working through volunteers to tackle poverty in developing countries.
Mondelez International owns Cadbury, Oreo, Cote D’Or, Freia, Suchard, Green and Black, Lacta, Marabou, Mikado, Milka and Toblerone, among other brands.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri