Yaa Peprah Amekudzi (second left) with Otiko Afisa Djaba and other dignitaries at the conference
Mondelez International Cocoa Life Programme has held its annual learning conference in Accra, with focus on women empowerment.
The day’s conference brought together cocoa farmers, development workers, government agencies and various stakeholders in the cocoa supply chain to share information on emerging and pressing issues.
Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, Country Lead of Mondelez International Cocoa Life programme, who welcomed the participants from across the country, said the programme, since its inception in 2008, institutionalized the annual learning conference as part of mechanisms for effective documentation and sharing of knowledge from programme interventions with stakeholders.
She was optimistic through the engagements and interactions with each other, new skills will be acquired for dealing with common challenges confronting the cocoa sector in Ghana.
Women Empowerment
Touching on the theme for the occasion, ‘Women Empowerment 2.0 – A Mondelez International Cocoa Life Strategy for Sustainable Cocoa Production in Ghana,’ Mrs Amekudzi said many women in Ghana are cultivating cocoa on their own and or alongside their husbands and other male relatives, doing about 70 percent of the tasks that guarantee the quality of the cocoa beans but there are no conscious interventions to empower them.
“Cocoa Life is a programme with a vision to empower thriving cocoa communities.
“We see transformation among the women in the communities we work in; a transformation that can be supported by the right attitudes; supportive environment and appropriate technology, among others,” she added.
Minister of Gender Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Djaba, the special guest at the event, encouraged stakeholders to see women as important partners in the cocoa sector.
“If women are supported especially by their partners, their efforts in the cocoa sector will be enhanced to better sustain the sector.
She said government would support women in every sector of the economy.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri