"Young Women make it look like cocoa production today is outmoded" - Kuapa Kooko President ADVISE female Youth to get involved in the Trade
Madam Fatima revealed that 1,500 women have been targeted in five years time
soireenews 
The President and Board Chair of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative and Marketing Union Limited, Madam Fatima Ali has advised young Ghanaian females not to consider cocoa farming as a worn-out trade for their involvement but rather engage themselves as backups to the aged who will soon retire from the job.
"They make it look like cocoa production today is outmoded. It is not. Who will replace the aged when they pass out?" she asked.
She revealed that 125 women are involved in the Gender Program excluding the records of 2019 with a number of 1,500 women targeted in the next five years to be involved in the Cocoa trade.
Madam Fatima addressed that the Gender program introduced has led to an increased membership from 33% to over 35%, which is immensely addressing the special needs of women members in the Union.
The principal objectives of the Programme was to promote social, economic and political empowerment of women members; stimulate women’s economic activities; break the vicious cycle of poverty among women and vulnerable groups; cultivate the habit of savings among women; and improve women’s access to credit.
Speaking at the 25th Annual Delegates Conference of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Farmers Union (KKFU) held at the Miklin Hotel in the capital of the Ashanti Region, Madam Fatima spoke that it is worth noting that women’s social and economic empowerment is fundamental to the global goal of realizing gender equality and to a larger extent, the 2010 agenda for sustainable development. She explained that it is the concern of the KKFU to empower women in order to be self-sustaining when they give up work at a reasonable age.
“Kuapa Kokoo support the women from our premium established for the welfare of members. We have engaged them in other trades as a means of equipping them to be supporting in their families,” she said.
The Yam project, Batik tie and Dye, Liquid Soap making, Shower gels and many others were mentioned as professions designed to shapen the female gender into an independent person in order to begin their private production. The support of free seedlings from Kuapa was also informed plus free pesticides to control bug.
“We train the women on leadership skills as well as business and financial literacy. The preparation guides them on how to employ measures to help them produce quality as well as safety measures. They are educated not to cut all the trees in their farms in order to give the seedlings enough shades to grow.
“They are also cautioned not to work with their children but rather take them to school to learn for the betterment of their future. Savings is also one area we are concerned with. We teach them how to keep money and support their husbands and prevent unnecessary spending,” she said.
