Cadbury to support Ghana farmers

Accra, Jan. 28, GNA - Cadbury, an International confectionery giant, on Monday announced the setting up of a Development Fund to help boost the incomes of cocoa farmers and up their yields. Seventy per cent of the fund would be allocated to growers in Ghana, where the Company has been operating for 100 years. The country would earn 600,000 pounds sterling from the Fund in 2008, and the figure is expected to rise by three million pounds sterling annually for the next 10 years.

A delegation from the Company, led by its President Matt Shattock, called on President John Agyekum Kufuor at his private Airport residence to break the news.

President Kufuor welcomed the Fund, particularly, for the social purpose it was meant to serve.

He, however, encouraged the firm to consider establishing facilities for processing the beans in the country to add more value to the crop.

The President said by so doing, the partnership would not be limited only to cocoa farmers but extended to industry. In addition, President Kufuor suggested to Cadbury to float its shares on the Ghana Stock Exchange, to enable Ghanaians buy them and become part owners of the Company.

Mr Shattock said the company was hopeful that the Fund would significantly help the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and propel it into a middle-income economy. It would introduce new sources of rural income and invest in education.

Ghana cocoa fetches a 10 per cent premium on the world commodity markets because of its quality.

Cadbury buys 10 per cent of its cocoa from the country. Meanwhile, a Senior Vice President of Kingdom Hotel Investments, in charge of Acquisitions and Development, Mr Tim Hansing, also called on President Kufuor to update him on preparations towards the reconstruction of Ghana's once premier hospitality facility, the Ambassador Hotel.

The work was originally supposed to have taken off in July 2007. President Kufuor said Ghana was eager to see this important landmark back to life as soon as possible.