Nana Aduna II – A Medical Officer who revolutionalised cocoa processing in Ghana

Nana Aduna II is the CEO of OheneCocoa, a cutting edge processor of Ghana’s raw cocoa beans.

He comes from a family in Akropong-Akuapem in the  Eastern Region of Ghana with a proud tradition of cocoa farming for over 100 years. Nana Aduna II was installed as Akyeamehene of Akuapem and Head of the Agona Clan and Adwumako Family of Akropong in June 2000 and got involved with active cocoa farming from 2003.

Where it all began

In 2004, Nana Aduna II began the 1^st phase of active rehabilitation of a farm at Oworam-Asamankese which was infected with Swollen Shoot Disease. After improvements in yield, Nana extended the cocoa rehabilitation exercise to all his farmland at Oworam-Asamnakese in 2010, to Kukua-Mangoase and also started a completely new farm at Adenya, a village near Akropong,

Nana began by planting special hybrid stalk cocoa seedlings, used specifically for producing cocoa seedlings in 2010 at Oworam-Asamankese which allowed the production of seedlings for expansion and for sale.

In 2015, Nana Aduna II improved the management of his farm by employing the services of youth in Oworam-Asamankese area into spraying and pruning gangs. Nana Aduna II followed on by introducing mechanized weed slashers and a tri-cycle to help modernize and improve farming methods in 2016 and 2017. Nana also replaced the old weighing scale method used to weigh his cocoa beans with a modern electronic weighing scale in 2017.

Nana Aduna II- Business Ventures

• Ohene Cocoa Brand and Mi-Cocoa Ltd

In December 2017, Nana Aduna II started experimenting with the idea of producing cacao nibs from his cocoa beans and this subsequently led to the birth of the Ohene Cocoa brand. Mi-Cocoa Pty Ltd as a company was born in May 2018 when the products under the Ohene Cocoa brand grew significantly from cocoa nibs to other value-added products like cocoa crunch (peanut, ginger and coconut flavor and cocoa husk tea. Of note is that all the above products have received certification by the Food and Drugs Authority in 2020

Mi-Ltd has also branched into cocoa cosmetics producing cocoa soap and other skin care products. Mi-Cocoa Ltd has partnered with Volta Winery to also market a cocoa wine.

• Know Your Cocoa (KYC) Foundation

In 2019, the Know Your Cocoa (KYC) Foundation was formed because of the huge gap in Ghana in cocoa value addition. KYC Foundation partnered with Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Solidaridard West Africa and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) to successfully organize the 1^st African Cocoa and Chocolate Expo (ACCE).Prior to that, the KYC Foundation had hosted the participants of the Miss Heritage Global Beauty Pageant on their farm in August 2019 on behalf of the Ghana Tourism Authority.

A successful hosting of the Ministry of Finance Sustainable Development Goals participants also took place in November 2019.

Nana brings a unique experience as a trained physician with additional experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Based on his deep insights Nana as a doctor can easily highlight the proven health benefits of cocoa.

CEO Experience  

• Participant at COCOBOD Cocoa / Chocolate Day (2018 – 2019)
• Member of Cocoa Value Addition Association of Ghana (COVAAGH)
• Member of African Cocoa Platform (ACP)
• Participant @ 1^st African Cocoa Platform meeting in Abidjan sponsored by GTZ in Nov 2019
• Participant @ DFID/UKTP  Markets on Nov 7^th 2019
• Member of COCOBOD committee on Cocoa Value Addition in Ghana  2^nd June 2020
• Speaker @ Webinar of ACP on Impact of Covid-19 on Cocoa Sector in Ghana on June 18^th 2020
• Speaker @ 2020 Cocoa Festival Virtual Conference on Transforming the Cocoa Industry with Focus on African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) on 24^th Nov
• Participant in UNIDO Webinar on Assessment of Ghana’s Cocoa Value Chain on 24^th October 2020
• Member of Ghana Standards Authority Working Group on Cocoa Nibs on 3^rd December 2020
• Participant @ Virtual Cocoa and Tourism for Sustainable Transformation on 12^th December 2020
• Member of Ghana Standards Authority Technical Committee on Food(Cocoa Nibs)

CEO Achievements

• 1^st Ghanaian farmer to have grown cocoa, added value and successfully registered a cocoa food product other than chocolate and cocoa powder with the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana-Cocoa Nibs, Cocoa Crunch and Cocoa Husk Tea
• Co-Founder of the 1^st African Cocoa and Chocolate Expo in Accra (Oct 2019)
• Co-Founder of the Know Your Cocoa Foundation