Imagine being a Junior High School dropout, a single mother at 16, unemployed (because she does not consider her work on the farm as employment), unskilled, no financial support and practically “wasting away” in a rural community that was the story of Francisca Frimpong. Francesca is  23-years-old and resides in Abidjan, a small cocoa growing

The MASO Programme works with women and men who have made gender equality and women’s empowerment a commitment in their communities. MASO promotes equal participation and engagements with both young men and women. The programme targets 40% female participation in all its interventions. As a strategy to promote equal gender participation and to curb gender

Access to finance is a major challenge for young people especially for those in rural areas. Discussion at the bi-annual learning meeting hosted by the Youth Forward Initiative recently centered on the challenges faced by young people in accessing finance. Youth Forward aims to improve the capacity of young people in Ghana to get jobs,

  Alberta Abochie   is a  24-year-old Senior High School graduate and a single mum from Leklebi Agbesia in the Volta Region. She joined the MASO Programme in 2016  with the hope, she will own a farm by the end of the  year long course. Like all her peers, she went through the cocoa agronomy

My name is John Alu ,a 25-year-old young man from Leklebi Agbesia in the Volta region. I started my first cocoa farm four years ago but decided to join the MASO Agro Academy in 2016 to learn how to grow cocoa professionally. I would like to tell you about my journey so far. MASO came

The Youth Forward Initiative learning partner in Ghana has released a Learning Diary on the MASO programme. MASO is part of the Youth Forward Initiative which is supported by the Mastercard Foundation. The Youth Forward Initiative learning partnership works across the programme to develop an evidence-based understanding of the needs of young people in Ghana

Sustainable production practices and the expansion of cocoa production in Ghana are linked to the availability of improved planting materials. As part of training the next generation of cocoa farmers in Ghana, the MASO programme establishes nurseries in each of the communities where we run the MASO Agro Academy. The youth are provided with practical

“Farming is the only career option for most youth in Ashrifikrom. So I also became a farmer growing cassava, maize  and cocoa when I finished Junior Secondary School in 2011”, says Isaac Adeti. But now the 23-year-old young man has added another income generating activity to his life. He sells agrochemicals  to other farmers in

“The beginning of every journey is not easy but if you have the can do spirit, you will succeed”  –  Elizabeth Kufuor. Elizabeth is 22 years old and part of the first cohort of MASO youth trained in cocoa agronomy in Kasapin, a cocoa-growing community in the Brong Ahafo region. She was a pupil teacher in