Ghana & Scotland Working Together For Progress!
Ghana has many special historic and current business and social links with Scotland. Flight Lieutenant Jerry J Rawlings, former president of Ghana, is of Scottish and Ghanaian descent (Scottish father and Ghanaian mother). Rawlings ruled Ghana between 1981 and 2001 and during this time he visited Scotland on several occasions.
200 years ago, the relationship between Ghana and Scotland would have been on the lines of slavery and colonialism. Today, in Scotland, there are thousands of Ghanaians working and living happily alongside their Scottish friends and colleagues! These are definitely better times for all of us to enjoy and celebrate!
Scotland is a unique small nation which has helped enormously to shape the world we live in today, by the invention of the telephone, television and steam engines to name but a few, and can take the lead in fighting poverty in Africa. The Scottish Government has already made a lot of progress in Malawi which is a great example of what other governments can and should be doing to make a difference.
However, politics alone can not bring about the kind of change that over a million people campaigned for at the “Make Poverty History” rally in Edinburgh during the Gleneagles G8 summit. Poverty is not a natural disease, and in the 21st century, people should not be born to die with it. By taking small steps and working together we can do something about reducing poverty in Ghana. If you would like to find out what ordinary people in Scotland are doing to help Ghana, please visit www.supportghana.co.uk.
There are about 2 million cocoa farmers in Ghana. Most of the farms are small-scale producing an average of 5 sacks of cocoa beans (average annual income £160). The farmers produce most of their own food but they need cash for essentials such as school fees, medicine and clothes, which are all expensive. The Ghanaian cocoa farmers formed the Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative (meaning “good cocoa farmers”) in 1993 with 2000 farmers, today there are over 45,000 members in over 1000 villages. The Kuapa Kokoo works to make sure the cocoa farmers receive a fair price for their cocoa beans. Their motto is pa pa paa which means “the best of the best”. Comic Relief has supported the co-operative, and together with the Day Chocolate Company, produced the fair traded Dubble chocolate bar.
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One World Shop Fair Trade in Scotland
