Accra, January 27, 2018//-Ghana is expected to construct a national cocoa museum to honour the memory of Tetteh Quarshie, the first Ghanaian to bring cocoa beans into the country.
The museum will soon be constructed at Akwapim-Mampong in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts, Mrs. Catherine Afeku, who made this known at the launch of the National Chocolate Day and the Tourism Awards in Accra, explained, it is government’s intention to construct the Cocoa Museum in memory of the man responsible for the introduction of cocoa in Ghana.
Tetteh Quarshie was an agriculturist who traveled to the Island of Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea) in 1870 and returned in 1876 to Ghana and introduced the cocoa crop into the country which has since become the country’s most important cash crop, raking in millions of dollars each year in foreign exchange.
A cocoa farm which is believed to have been planted by him in 1879, still survives at Akwapim-Mampong where the Tourism Minister indicates would be the site for the Cocoa Museum, in honour of Tetteh Quarshie, the man who first brought cocoa to Ghana.
“My Ministry in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Authority and other stakeholders will very soon cut the sod for the construction of a befitting museum for the country’s cocoa hero, at the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm at Akwapim-Mampong. With the support of our stakeholders like COCOBOD, Cocoa Processing Company Limited, Nestle Ghana Limited and other corporate bodies in Ghana,’’ she noted.
The Minister said, she has sent delegation to the hometown of Tetteh Quarshie to enquire on the appropriate date and time for the sod cutting to commerce the construction of the Museum.
“I have tasked a delegation from my ministry to go to Mampong right after here to meet with the family of our National hero,” she said.
According to the Minister, this conforms with the Akufo-Addo-led government’s goal of showing appreciation and honouring the founding fathers of the Country.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Akwasi Agyemang, also indicated their five-prompt strategy for 2018 which hinges on Service Excellence, Responsible Tourism, Stakeholder Partnership, Aggressive Marketing and Tourism Sector Investment.
According to Mr. Agyemang, “this year’s theme for the national Chocolate Day; “Eat Ghana, Eat Chocolate”, is in line with the campaign that we continue to run, See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Feel Ghana and Wear Ghana. And for the National Tourism Awards, promoting responsible Tourism, is one of our cardinal principles to ensure that, we are not just marketing Tourism but we are marketing a responsible Tourism, an industry that promotes excellence, an Industry that creates jobs, an industry that puts on its best food forward.”
The National Chocolate Day which is celebrated every year on February 14th to promote made in Ghana chocolate, as well as 8th March, 2018 for the National Tourism Awards were announced.
Meanwhile, agricultural sector is said to be a major contributor to Ghana’s economy, contributing about 45 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with cocoa alone producing almost 25 percent of this total amount.
More than 70 percent of the cocoa produced in Ghana is exported to Europe and America, with the remaining 25 percent processed in the country into other bi-products such as chocolate, liquor, soap, body cream and other confectionaries like milo and other products.
By Sammy Adjei
