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Winrock International
Cocoa beans

Legacy Project

Ghana MOCA-Youth Project

Pressured by global demand for cocoa and by persistent poverty, many cocoa farmers and households in Ghana rely on child labor. With limited opportunities for education and few choices of livelihood in rural cocoa communities, youth 15 to 17 years of age are particularly at risk of engaging in hazardous child labor. Working in the Ashanti and Western regions of Ghana, this project raised awareness of the dangers of child labor and equipped 280 community leaders across 40 cocoa communities to design and implement Community Action Plans. MOCA offered youth promising alternatives to hazardous labor in the cocoa sector, including skills training, job placement in age-appropriate work, and educational opportunities. More than 2,800 youth (84 percent female) gained vocational training. To reduce household reliance on child labor, the project also equipped 2,400 adult women to increase their incomes. MOCA also increased these women’s access to finance through the creation of 108 Village Savings and Loan Associations.

Funder: USDOL

Project Timeline: November 6, 2015 - November 5, 2019

Country: Ghana

Program Areas: Human Rights, Education and Empowerment , Child Labor Prevention, Education and Agriculture, Resilience and Water 

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