The Farmers' Voice Radio Academy for cocoa producers in Ghana

Farmers' Voice Radio Academy participant, Alice Oforiwaa, cocoa women's organiser at Asante Akim South Municipal Cooperative Union, Photo Credit: PDA Africa

In 2026 the Farmers’ Voice Radio team partnered with PDA Africa to deliver the Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy for cocoa producers in Ghana. Over the last 6 months, LYF and PDA Africa have trained 14 cocoa cooperatives from across Ghana to design, produce and broadcast participatory radio programmes, in local language, that empower smallholder cocoa producer communities.

The Farmers’ Voice Radio (FVR) Academy for Cocoa Farmer Organisations in Ghana included two workshops on 18-19th March and 22-23rd April 2026 in Kumasi, that were facilitated by the LYF and PDA Africa (LYF was physically present in Kumasi for the first workshop).

There were 46 participants at the workshops with representatives from 14 cocoa cooperatives from the following cocoa-producing regions: Western, Western North, Bono East, Ahafo, Ashanti, Central, Eastern and Volta. Representatives from organisations that work in and support the cocoa sector also participated in the workshop, including Beyond Beans, International Cocoa Initiative, Fairtrade Africa, Nyankopa, Safecrop Ltd, Socodevi, Solidaridad and Tony’s Open Chain.

The workshops focussed on the practical application of the FVR approach, the importance of raising farmers’ voices (especially women and tenanted farmers) and practicing participatory planning, recording and editing tools for producing a FVR programme. Much of the discussion revolved around the key issues facing cocoa producers, such as child labour, climate change, deforestation, illegal mining, cocoa prices and the high cost of inputs and labour. The cooperatives understood the need to focus their radio programmes on the information needs of women producers, as well as men, ensure that 50% of the voices aired are women’s and broadcast the radio programmes at a time when women can listen.  The need to include young voices in the FVR programmes and motivate young people in cocoa was also a primary concern for the cooperatives.

Ama from the Ghana Cooperative Cocoa Farmers & Marketing Association. Photo credit: PDA Africa

The evaluation showed that 100% of participants agreed that 'the Farmers’ Voice Radio approach will further the aims and objectives of my cooperative / organisation and have a positive impact on cocoa producing communities’. LYF and PDA Africa continued coaching the cooperatives to design their own radio series in their regions, that will reach hundreds of thousands of listeners. The start-up grant competition resulted in five cooperatives being awarded a small grant that will enable them to begin producing and broadcasting their radio programmes as soon as possible. Many of these radio programme series explicitly aim to empower women cocoa producers in their regions. We will share more about these radio programme series as they go live!

There has been significant interest from other cocoa-sector organisations in FVR, such as cocoa bodies, buyers and NGOs, that are linked to the cooperatives. The aim is that these organisations will invest in the approach and ensure the long-term sustainability of the cooperative’s radio programmes.

The anonymous evaluation at the end of the workshop provided the following feedback from participants:

‘Farmer’s Voice Radio will further the aims and objectives in the sense that the voices of small scale cocoa farmers will be heard and their needs will be addressed if possible. It’s also a great opportunity for our farmers to feel involved in the cocoa community and it will delete the notion of “mere farmers”.’ 

‘I feel FVR is a farmer ownership initiative that uses and leverages on the knowledge and experiences of farmers to engage other cooperative members. We have a program that uses a similar approach but the wider coverage the FVR provides will ensure the message and awareness reaches every farmer in the cooperative perhaps at the same time.’

Emmanuel Fiifi Musah is from Tony Chocolonely’s Open Chain said. 

‘The Academy reaffirmed something I deeply believe in (i.e farmers must be at the centre of the conversations that affect their lives and livelihoods). Participatory radio like Farmers Voice Radio is a powerful, accessible tool to make that happen, cutting across literacy barriers, geographic distances, and resource constraints’  

Lillian Kuutiero, Gender Equality Coordinator at the NGO Socodevi said

‘I am excited about Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy because I think that farmers can use a platform that raise the farmer voice to educate themselves, to advocate and influence other farmers on best practices […] especially about transformation in gender and equalities in the cocoa sector’

Please look at this video about the FVR Academy in Ghana, and this interview with Alice, who participated in the FVR Academy training.

Learning from the project

Based on feedback from a FVR Academy programme recently delivered in Latin America, this FVR workshop was divided into two events. The gap between the workshops enabled participants to consult with their cooperative leaders and farmer members and conduct formative research, which was used in the practical sessions in the second workshop. This approach did increase the costs of travel locally, but it meant that the second workshop content was designed specifically in response to the discussions between the cooperatives and feedback from workshop one. Based on comments from several cooperatives the second workshop included an optional session on editing audio content on mobile devices delivered by PDA Africa’s communications expert, Gaddiel Musa. The feedback to this extra session was very positive.

LYF intends to build on the success of this first FVR Academy programme in West Africa, with a second training programme in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

The Farmers' Voice Radio Academy training programme was very participatory, with lots of group work. March 2026. Photo credit: PDA Africa

Thank you!

This first FVR Academy for Coca Cooperatives would not have been possible without the generous support of below trusts and foundations.

·       CB & HH Taylor 1984 Trust

·       Be One Foundation

·       Chalk Cliff Trust

·       Coles- Medlock Foundation

·       Souter Charitable Trust

·       Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity

·       Austin Bailey Foundation

·       Network for Social Change Charitable Trust

·       William A Cadbury Charitable Trust

·       The Gibbs Trust

·       Archer Trust

 Thanks to your support, cocoa cooperatives across Ghana’s cocoa belt will be producing and broadcasting radio programmes, in the relevant local languages, that connect smallholder farmers with the knowledge they need to improve the quality, yield and sustainability of their cocoa production. This will result in stronger livelihoods, a reduction on poverty, more resilient cocoa communities and the protection of Ghana’s natural resources forests for future generations.

Thank you for your generous contribution towards the Farmers’ Voice Radio Academy in Ghana.

The participants of the Farmers' Voice Radio Academy for cocoa producers in Ghana, March 2026. Photo credit: PDA Africa