Interview with Hon. Nelson Donkor owner of Shahamana Chocolate.
Mr. Donkor is a former child slave who escaped and is now running his own chocolate company. It is extremely important that we support people and companies like his as it is an avenue the growers can use to help bring them out of abject poverty.
1. Tell me about yourself, where are you from? I am Nelson Donkor. A young cocoa farmer from Tepa, in the Ahafo Ano North Municipal of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. I am an elected Assemblymember (a councilor) for the Kyekyewere electoral area. I was voted into power in 2015 and re-elected again in 2019. It’s a volunteer position and I rule over 2000 people. The people are mainly cocoa farmers.
2. How did you get involved with cacao? I will say that I got into cocoa from childhood. I was sold into child slavery. I was rescued and sent to the city where I was able to start school. I got back again into cocoa farming in 2012 when my dad died. I have been an active cocoa farmer since then.
3. What motivated you to get start your own chocolate company? I had the chance to taste chocolate in 2012 when some Swedish friends visited my farm. They brought the chocolate all the way from Sweden. Before that meeting, I didn't know what the beans were used for. I became interested in chocolate at that point. A German friend, Marie Schlemm, inspired and convinced me to make chocolate from my own cocoa beans. She organized a fundraising effort and bought me a 5kg grinder. I also learned that adding value to the cocoa beans is more profitable than selling the raw beans.
4. What changes have you seen in the industry since the big companies signed the Harkin Engle Protocol 20 years ago? I haven’t seen any change in the industry since the big companies signed the Harkin Engle Protocol 20 years ago. I think they have changed their tactics of robbing the farmers.
5. What is your message to the consumers in the west? I want the consumers in the west to buy directly from farmers or cooperative chocolate makers instead of the big companies.
6. If you had the power to change things, what would you do? If I have the power to change things, I will make sure cocoa farmers get fair prices for their beans. Also make sure farmers sell their beans directly to buyers instead of selling to Cocobod, the government cocoa regulator. Additionally, I would like to see those that participate in trafficking and the worst forms of child labor prosecuted and jailed.
7. What is your message to the big cocoa companies? I want the big companies to know that we the cocoa farmers are going through a lot of hardship so they should pay us a fair price for our beans. Our lives have to be better for ours to be able to continue producing cocoa beans. I have learned that farmers use children in their farms because they want cheap labour. With fair prices, child slavery will be a thing of the past.
8. What makes you happy? Seeing rescued children in the classroom makes me happy.