WhiteCap Cocoa Holdings LLC, a privately-held agri-business, based in Ghana and the United States, is pleased to announce the development of a 3,000-acre cocoa farm in the Dormaa Ahenkro District of the Brong Ahafo Region in eastern Ghana. Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa and increasing cocoa production is a national priority. The WhiteCap Cocoa Farm will be the first commercial scale farm in Ghana and will be the second largest cocoa farm in the world when fully developed. The Phase 1 fundraising effort of $500,000 is being conducted by Harvest Returns, one of the nation’s first equity crowdfunding web-based platforms for agricultural investments.
The project is made feasible by Ghana’s support programs for cocoa producers which includes the supply of farm inputs, technical assistance and a pricing scheme that minimizes market volatility. WhiteCap’s management plans to boost traditional yields through economies of scale, technology integration, irrigation, and farming best practices while using only hybrid cocoa tree seedlings. Job training, employee child care, and a zero gender wage gap are at the forefront of the farm’s fair labor practices. WhiteCap’s corporate mission is to have a positive and sustainable impact with an economical, social, and environmental bias towards improving the lives of women and children while achieving superior returns on investment.
Lawrence R. Kunkel, the company’s CEO advised that “Ghana is the perfect country for this project. Its agriculture policy is highly supportive of cocoa producers and the project will finally bring beneficial scale that will significantly boost annual output of one of the country’s most important commodities.” Chris Rawley, CEO of Harvest Returns, added “this is an important project for Ghana’s agricultural development, and we are happy to be a part of it.”
Emmanuel A. Opoku, Executive Director of the Ghana Cocoa Health and Extension Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board commented “Management finds your intention to establish the cocoa plantation laudable and in line with our cocoa sustainability program. We therefore express our support in the implementation of this project.”
