Bead Factory and 1st Ghana Cocoa Farm

This weekend we went to a bead factory in Somanya in the eastern region where they make traditional Krobo African beads. The place we visited was called Cedi Bead Factory named after the creator “Cedi”. These African beads are very important in traditional culture. They are used as a symbol of family status and used on special occasions especially during the “coming of age” ceremonies held in April and May.

We got to walk step-by-step through the entire process of making a bead. It was amazing to see how much work goes into making beads.

You first start off by making the molds, which are made from hard clay found in the bottom of rivers. These molds have indents of the type of bead you are trying to create. Depending on the size of the beads, you can have between 10- 30 holes per mold. The next step is to crush the glass into very fine powder. They use all sorts of glass bottles. Red and blue are the rarest type to find. Next, you pour the desired color (even alternating colors) that you want into the mold. Then, it’s off to fire the molds in ovens that are made out of termite mounds. Once they are done in the ovens, holes are poked into the glass with Cassava stems (a type of root commonly cooked and eaten here). They are then cooled and washed with water. After they are dried some are painted, only to be fired again. When the process is all over, they are given to women who string them.

The final product is necklaces, bracelets, and waist beads. Waist beads are a common old tradition. They are small thin strands of beads in many colors and are worn by females on their waists. These beads are only supposed to be seen by their husbands. They are thought to be “sexy.”They start off worn on babies to measure the amount of weight they are gaining to make sure they are healthy. They have become less common as time has gone on, but are coming back into style being worn on ankles, wrists and even around the neck.

In the end, there was a small shop filled with the different assortment of beads strung in many different ways. The owner gave us each a “free gift” after we had made our purchases. I got a blue, yellow, and white bracelet as my free gift.

Next, we went on to Mampong to the first cocoa farm in Ghana. We toured the plantation. The most interesting thing about cocoa was how it grows. Cocoa starts off on pods that look like fruit. The pods grow on trees, however not like normal fruit that comes off branches; these grow right off the trunks of the tree. The reason for this is that the cocoa only grows where it is shaded. And there are leaves that sprout from the trunks and thus the pods grow in that spot. Sometimes, they grow on the branches but normally they have to be protected from the sun.

We all got to harvest the cocoa. There is long pole with a sharp hook on the end that reaches up to the tops of the trunk and to the high shaded branches above that yield the cocoa pods. So we took turns cutting down the cocoa pods from the towering trees. Once they are down, you gather them and cut them open. When you cut them open, it’s contains white, slimy, mushy seeds. It is common here to suck on the insides until the flavor is gone and spit them out. It tastes very sweet, almost like a mango.

Once they are cut open, the next step is to place the insides on leaves and cover them for about 3 days. After 3 days you uncover the leaves, and place them in a drying rack in the sun. About a week later they turn into little brown “coffee-like” seeds. Finally ready to be sold off.

The final process is packing the brown seeds into sacks and selling them. Here in Ghana, when it comes time to selling they have no choice but by law, must sell their produce to the government. Then the government turns around and sells it to the market (cocoa companies). It seems like that in itself, is the biggest problem that cocoa farmers have. It is impossible for these farmers to ever make more profit than the set price. They have no choice or input on the price other than what the government gives them.

Thus in turn, many of the farmers/producers have started a smuggling process to Ivory Coast. As a result, about 6% of Ghana’s production is smuggled. The reason for the smuggling is that Ivory Coast provides better prices and the money exchange rate is much higher therefore overall, there is much profit to be received.

Other than the corrupt system of price-fixing , I was upset … that there wasn’t just simple Hershey bars on the tree. Instead it took many long months to finally get the end product. What’s more, they didn’t even have real chocolate at the end of the tour to taste!! Although, we did get to try one of the brown “coffee-like” seeds and it tasted very rich and dark with NO sugar.

I learned a lot and have come to respect the long journey of chocolate making. I guess this just gives me more reason to eat more of the HORRIBLE tasting chocolate ... I just don’t know how I am going to survive (poor girl!).

Well, when Matt visited he brought me some Cadbury chocolate eggs…

… Hell I guess Ill force myself to eat some more!

*****Miss everyone, ONLY one month till I am home!*****

~Stacie~