Supporting education in Ghana
Access to education, a priority for Valrhona
Most cocoa farmers live in communities that can be isolated at times and don’t always have enough infrastructure. In some cocoa-producing countries, analysis of communities’ needs has shown that education is a priority.
Since 2017, Valrhona and FEDCO have carried out a far-reaching program to improve educational conditions in their sourcing communities. This program benefits producer families’ (and their neighbors’) children.
Since 2018, Valrhona and the Valrhona Solidarity Fund have helped to improve access to education in three countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana and Venezuela. In 2022, 2,555 students benefited from new school infrastructure.
In Ghana, Pieso Middle School was opened in January 2023. This completes a complex consisting of a preschool built in 2018 and an elementary school renovated the same year. Before this work, the 145 students studied in a dilapidated building whose roof was in danger of collapsing.
The newly built middle school welcomes students in three spacious, ventilated classrooms. It also has an IT room with computers, printers and a projector. New toilets are serviced by a well and connected to a biodigester.
Cédric Robin, Source
Our previous Results:
Thanks to the financial support of donors via the Valrhona Foundation, various projects have already been launched:
- 2016: financing of a community center for events and training in Wassa Nkran, including a library and ICT center
- 2017: launch of a five-year program to increase access to education and improve school facilities in eight communities in the district of Tarkwa
- 2018: construction an elementary school in Wassa Nkran, a kindergarten in Pieso & renovation of an elementary school in Pieso
- 2019: construction of a middle school & renovation of an elementary school in Atwereboanda
- 2021: the program continue by setting up a primary school in Bosomtwe. It is equipped with a computer room, a sanitary block and can accommodate 270 students in 6 different classes. This is the result of a new project created for and with its beneficiaries.