Nestle Ghana Limited has kick-started an Information Communication Technology (ICT) training programme for cocoa farmers and school children in communities it sources raw materials for the manufacture of its products in the country.
The training programme dubbed: ‘The Nestle Cocoa Plan’ aims to help farmers run profitable farms through the acquisition of vital farming information to improve conditions in the communities.
As part of the initiative, the global wellness, health and nutrition firm has built four Village Resource Centres (VRCs) at Suhum, Akim Oda and Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region.
Nestle Ghana Limited, in a press statement, said the VRCs are containers stationed in schools and equipped with computers with child-friendly software and Internet access.’
The statement noted that VRCs will help provide local farmers with audio-visual training on good agricultural practices through the Akan language.
It added that VRCs will also ‘promote Information Communication Technology education among school children and help them to acquire skills that will be helpful later in life.’
The statement noted that the training programme reaffirms Nestle’s commitment to rural development.
It was developed in partnership with Source Trust, ECOMS and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
About the Plan
Nestle Ghana Cocoa Plan is active in major cocoa-growing countries, including Cote D- Ivoire, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and Indonesia.
Nestle intends to source 150,000 tonnes of cocoa through the Plan by 2017.
In Ghana, the programme is being implemented in partnership with local buying companies Source Trust, ECOMS and Noble Resource.
Nestle has been closely working with the various communities since 2009.
It has already trained over 9,000 farmers, built three schools and eight boreholes benefiting approximately 14,000 people in communities in the Eastern and Ashanti Regions.
BY Melvin Tarlue
