The National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) wing at the Ghana Cocoa Board, popularly known as NASPAC, has embarked on a cocoa consumption campaign to sensitize Ghanaians on the benefits of unsweetened cocoa.

The initiative, which was launched on Monday, July 9, 2018 at the forecourt of the COCOBOD Head Office in Accra, seeks to sensitize citizens, specifically market women, on why they should patronize unsweetened cocoa products. It also seeks to increase the patronage of cocoa products.

Speaking at the launch, Public Affairs Manager of the COCOBOD, Noah Amenyah charged the enthused national service personnel to act as good ambassadors of the company. He advised them to put up the best of behaviour while sensitizing the market women on the benefits of cocoa products.

“We will implore you to comport yourself decently as you go around. Make sure that you take your time to communicate the good things that cocoa has to the market women that you are going to meet. Demonstrate to them how it is done and assist them in getting more information if they want it,” he urged.

He encouraged the national service personnel to put in their utmost best in the week-long initiative, expressing optimism about its success.

“We are hoping that this step that you have taken will have a rippling effect. It is going to spark among Ghanaians the interest in taking cocoa. So we hope that it is the beginning of greater things to come and some time to come when we look back, we can affirm that Ghanaians have developed an interest in cocoa because of this initiative you have undertaken,” Mr. Amenyah said.



NASPAC President, Isaac Lawson bemoaned the poor patronage and decline in the consumption of cocoa products in the country. He explained that the cocoa consumption campaign sought to address the issue, in order to minimize the export of cocoa and increase its consumption.

“There are a lot of cocoa products that many people do not know about. So, we are here to educate them. The whole idea is about self-awareness. The exportation of cocoa to foreign countries is high as compared to its consumption locally. So, we suggested this initiative to assist COCOBOD in tackling the predicament,” he posited.



With about 250 national service personnel, the NASPAC cocoa consumption campaign will target markets such as Kantamanto, Makola, Agbogbloshie, Circle and Okaishie. The campaign which begins Monday, July 9, 2018 will end on Friday, July 13, 2018.