The global chocolate industry is worth $100 billion. Multi-national companies such as Mars, Mondelez International, and Nestle rake in billions of dollars of revenue each year.
Ghana, one of the leading producers of cocoa globally, makes a mere $2 billion from the industry.
Last year, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, informed the nation of government’s plans to diversify Ghana’s cash crops from cocoa to coffee, cashew, coconut, just to name a few, to increase the nation’s revenue from cash crops from its current $2 billion to $16 billion.
Even before government implements policies to make this vision a reality, entrepreneurs like Emi-beth Aku Quantson, the CEO of Kawa Moka, are working to not only develop Ghana’s cash crops but process them into finished goods, thereby adding value to them locally and improving the livelihoods of farmers.
Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages globally.
In countries like the United States, companies such as Starbucks have made billions of dollars from the $102 billion-dollar market. In Africa, countries like Ethiopia and Uganda dominate the market with a combined production of 62%.
In West Africa, Ivory Coast, which produces 13% of the continent’s coffee, leads the pack.
Ghana, a country that has the right climatic conditions and is capable of producing coffee in large volumes, is nowhere to be found due to its failure to develop the sector.
But Emi-beth is determined to change this with Kawa Moka, a filtered coffee brand that brings customers all-natural, non-processed coffee and also improves the livelihood of farmers.
“We roast the natural coffee bean and package it in its natural form so that our customers get the very best coffee. Some of our coffees are infused with local herbs and spices. We have dawadawa coffee, ginger coffee, and prekese coffee,” Emi-beth said.
Beyond ensuring her customers get the very best coffee, Emi-beth is also passionate about improving the livelihoods of coffee farmers, most of whom are women and had been discouraged from continuing the trade due to limited access to market.
“Our objective is to add value to our local treasures. We do this by sourcing our coffee from Leklebi in the South Afadjato District of the Volta Region of Ghana. Since the 1930s, the people of Leklebi have grown a Robusta Variety of Coffee. We work primarily with women farmers to process it, roast and package the coffee locally. Through our work, the farmers are encouraged to continue growing coffee as they now have access to market.”
Kawa Moka is not only interested in supplying their customers the best coffee but also helping them enjoy the coffee experience by taking them on tours where they get to appreciate the coffee journey from the farm to their cups.
There is no doubt that Kawa Moka’s future is very bright and with the introduction of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the company’s prospect of becoming Ghana’s biggest coffee house is certainly achievable.
