August 4, 2019
This July, over 100 youth from Bia West and Asunafo North, both rural towns within Ghana’s cocoa belt, completed an entrepreneurship boot camp, forming the fourth and fifth cohorts of the MASO Business Academy.
Launched in 2016, the MASO program is targeted at helping youth between 18 – 25 years in cocoa-growing communities find employment opportunities within the cocoa value chain.
Through the program, participating youth either become part of the Agro Academy where they pick up sustainable cocoa farming practices or the Business Academy which provides training to expand the cocoa sector and develop thriving service sectors that will support the cocoa industry and/or enhance life in the MASO operational area.
“For people living in cocoa-growing areas who may not necessarily be interested in farming, it is important to help them see how they can still benefit from the industry,” shared Senior Lecturer Dr. Sena Agyepong who leads the Business Academy. “So in the end, these businesses help to develop a local economy and also help provide a life for people in the community, ultimately filling employment gaps and helping to curb rural-urban migration.”
To date, the Business Academy has trained nearly 400 first-time entrepreneurs whose work has gone on to impact several communities within Ghana’s cocoa-growing areas.
Training entrepreneurs to support local economies
In two brief ceremonies on July 17th and 18th, the entrepreneurs put together exhibitions for guests, showcasing their businesses spanning agricultural produce, catering services, to child education.
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“Cohort after cohort, we have seen more entrepreneurs work harder, and it is always a joy to see them start-up and actually run their businesses,” shared Dr. Agyepong. “Over time, not only have we seen lower levels of attrition, but we have come to understand better how to select and engage with the entrepreneurs; what to support and what to discourage.”
The six-month training program involved coaching, mentoring and incubation for the entrepreneurs and their businesses; with expertise from other successful entrepreneurs, as well as Ashesi’s faculty. The process also allowed participants to explore opportunity spaces, build and test business models, and receive some grant support to kick off their ventures.
“Joining the academy has helped me better understand how to structure my business,” shared Faustina Agyei, who opened an agro-input shop with four other incubatees. “Now we understand how to do simple account, manage our stock and also expand the business gradually.”
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Supporting Ghana’s leading cash crop
With nearly $2 billion in annual sales, accounting for 8% of Ghana’s GDP and growing global demand, cocoa is Ghana’s most valuable cash crop. Despite the tremendous upside of the industry for the nation’s economy, output in Ghana is on the decline, largely due to the dwindling numbers of workers in the cocoa value chain.
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“Most of these people were unemployed within their communities; trying to figure out their next steps or simply migrate to urban areas,” shared Dr. Agyepong. “Through working with them in the academy, the progress the entrepreneurs have made has not only helped fill employment gaps but also has helped give them hope; and that goes a long way. Once they develop that hope and believe in themselves it creates a multiplier effect within the communities. Indirectly, they help inspire others.”
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Funded by the MasterCard Foundation, and in partnership with Solidaridad, MASO is run by a consortium of companies including Ghana Cocoa Board, Opportunity International, Aflatoun and Fidelity Bank Ghana and Ashesi University. Led by Senior Lecturer, Dr. Sena Agyepong, Ashesi acts as the educational partner responsible for driving teaching and curriculum development for the program’s entrepreneurship training module.
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