1. 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Cocoa production is one of the main sources of economic livelihood for most farmers in
the developing world with which, Ghana is a part. In West Africa Ghana and Cote de Voire are
the major producers of cocoa. Most farm households are supported by income from cocoa,
especially in the main crop season which is from October to June. When the cropping season is
over most cocoa farmers in Ghana become cash trapped in other words they find it very difficult
to afford basic house hold utilities and farm inputs.
There have been interventions by various partners in the cocoa industry of Ghana to
support and sustain the livelihood of cocoa farmers, but to a larger extent most of these
interventions have not been sustained. Cocoa farmers in various cocoa growing areas adopt
various livelihood strategies to help sustain their income, but in most cases cocoa farmers don’t
have the required human capital to sustain such livelihood strategies.
Strengthening livelihoods, especially ensuring increased cocoa production and food
security is one of the main objectives of the cocoa industry in Ghana. Such mandates cannot be
achieved if the income source of cocoa farmers is not diverse. Relying on only cocoa by most
cocoa farmers is not the best.
My research project aims at demonstrating the need to improve the livelihood of cocoa
farmers, with an additional form of economic livelihood. The research project will be undertaken
at the Sekondi Takoradi District of the Ghana COCOBOD. One of the Districts of the cocoa
industry.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION/ JUSTIFICATION
No other country comes to mind more than Ghana when one speaks of cocoa. Likewise,
one cannot think of Ghana without thinking of its cocoa sector, which offers livelihoods for over
700,000 farmers in the southern tropical belt of the country. Long one of Ghana’s main exports,
cocoa has been central to the country’s debates on development, reforms, and poverty alleviation
Strategies since independence in 1957.the cocoa sector in Ghana has not been an unmitigated
success, however.
After emerging as one of the world’s leading producers of cocoa, Ghana experienced a
major decline in production in the 1960s and 1970s, and the sector nearly collapsed in the early
1980s. Production steadily recovered in the mid-1980s after the introduction of economy wide
reforms, and the 1990s marked the beginning of a revival, with production nearly doubling
between 2001 and 2003. Various administrations in Ghana, including the colonial one, have used
cocoa as a source of public revenue, and in so doing the Ghanaian experience offers a recurrent
example of a policy practice followed by many other African countries: taxing the country’s
major export sector to finance public expenditure (Herbst 1993).
Alternative livelihoods can be defined as livelihood activities that supplement peoples
basic income. These activities usually depend on peoples spare time, their skills resources and
art. A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets(including both material and social resources)
and activities and activities required for a means of living (Chambers and Conway, 1992).

2. 2
The mention of alternative livelihoods implicitly suggest several scenarios namely; that
the prevailing livelihoods are either not producing enough benefits for the individual or
communities engaged in them, or that current activities are in contravention of existing
legislations, or pose a danger to the sustainability of other resources. In the context of
agriculture-dominated economies, the resources at risk may be land, forest or water bodies.
Alternative livelihoods are therefore thought of in the context of providing livelihoods that may
replace or supplement existing livelihoods that are in danger in terms of resource constraints, or
those livelihoods that do not generate sufficient incomes to enable those engaged in them live
decent lives (Tropendos 2005).
In improving the livelihood of cocoa farmers then, livelihood asset of cocoa farmers must
be seriously taken into consideration. In doing so several capacity building programs in terms of
a particular livelihood program will be very necessary for cocoa farmers. This will actually go a
long way to improve their knowledge background, of a particular livelihood intervention
program. The livelihood asset in this context refers to people’s strength which is converted into
positive livelihood outcomes.
MAIN AIM OF MY RESEARCH
To improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers with an additional form of farming income
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF MY RESEARCH
 To ascertain the number of cocoa farmers engaged in additional livelihood.
 To determine the income generated from additional livelihood and cocoa annually by
cocoa farmers
 To identify the training needed by cocoa farmers in their preferred economic livelihood
 To identify and rank the constraints cocoa farmers face in adding .a different farm
enterprise to their main farm enterprise which is cocoa production.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 What is the number of cocoa farmers engaged in additional livelihood?
 How much income is generated from additional livelihood annually?
 What is the training need of cocoa farmers in their preferred livelihood?
 What is the constraints cocoa farmers face in adding additional livelihood to their main
cocoa business?

3. 3
METHODOLOGY
 Objective one will be achieved by the use of descriptive statistics
 Objective two will be achieved by the use of P test comparing means after the income
generated from cocoa and additional livelihood have been deduced.
 Objective three will be achieved by the use of Context analysis by reviewing literature
which talks about training of farmers on additional livelihood.
 Objective four will be achieved by using Friedman ranking, where the various
constraints, to engaging in additional livelihood will be identified and ranked.
REFERENCES
Baah, F (2011a) Rapid Assessment of Alternative or Additional Livelihood for cocoa farmers in
the Western Region of Ghana: A consultancy report on identified good practices and their
replicability submitted to the ILO/IPEC office, Accra, 20pp.
Baah, F (2011b) Availability and Viability of alternative and / or additional livelihood activities
in ILO/IPEC target communities in the Western Region of Ghana: A consultancy report
submitted to ILO/IPEC Office, Accra.
Casley, D.J. and Kumar, K. (1988). The collection, Analysis, and the use of Monitoring and
Evaluation Data. Washington D. C: The World Bank / John Hopkins University Press.
CRIG (2010). Cocoa Manual : A source book for sustainable cocoa production. Tafo: Cocoa
Research Institute of Ghana.
MASDAR (1998). Socio-economic Study of Cocoa Farming in Ghana. Consultancy Report,
Accra: Ghana Cocoa Board / MASDAR International Consultants.
MMYE (2008). Labour survey of cocoa farming households in Ghana. Accra: National
programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa / Ghana Cocoa Board.