Founder and Managing Editor of Cocoa Post, Kojo Hayford, has been elected as the Media and Communication Officer for the Cocoa Value Addition Artisans Association of Ghana (COVAAAGH).
Hayford will serve alongside three other elected executives and one appointed executive, forming the association’s five-member Executive Council. The council has a two-year term of office expiring December 2023.
Before founding Cocoa Post LLC in 2019, Kojo Hayford had practised as a broadcast journalist with Ghana’s leading private television news station – TV3 Network, where he also doubled as a producer and news anchor. During his nine-year stint at TV3, Hayford covered issues on rural development, energy and the environment, and also served as a parliamentary correspondent and later, presidential correspondent.
In 2014, he took up an appointment with TXT Ghana Limited, a Value-Added Service (VAS) company, where he became the pioneer Editor-in-Chief of its lifestyle blog, Infoboxx.
He is a co-founder of the Africa Mobile & ICT Expo (MOBEX), an annual technology ecosystem conference and exhibition organised by Coasters Company Limited, where he was the Director of Operations until his exit in 2016.
Hayford’s cocoa sector media, research and advocacy start-up, Cocoa Post LLC, is the publisher of the digital news and information repository, Cocoa Post, and also the organiser of key industry events – Ghana Cocoa Summit and Ghana Cocoa Awards.
Kojo Hayford is a registered member of COVAAAGH and the Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA), an International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) member-organisation.
COVAAAGH Executive Council
Members of the COVAAAGH Executive Council include Technical Director of Delfi Ventures, Ida Dela Kuekey Austine, President; Managing Director of Gablin Foods, George Adjei-Bekoe, Vice President; Chief Executive Officer of Flexy Foods, Lucy Afari, Treasurer; Managing Editor of Cocoa Post, Kojo Hayford, Media & Communication Officer; and seasoned Organisational Development practitioner, Festus Kwame Kwadzokpo as Executive Secretary.
Hayford is expected to aid brand-building efforts for COVAAAGH, while making the organisation more visible to its various publics. Registered legally as a non-profit organisation, COVAAAGH is the apex body for the administration, development and promotion of the cocoa value addition sector in Ghana.
Mission, vision and objectives
The organisation’s mission is to enhance the businesses of its members through technical capacity building, service provision, promotion of business development/linkages, ethics and adherence to the regulatory standards of COCOBOD and other public institutions for the development of the artisanal cocoa processing sector of Ghana.
In the long term, COVAAAGH envisions to be the catalyst for promoting, developing and empowering artisanal cocoa value addition enterprises (cocoapreneurs) in Ghana. Its functions include coordinating the efforts of the artisanal cocoa value addition sector, engaging in public policy advocacy, leading capacity-building and market development opportunities for members, as well as promoting the welfare of members.
Another key function is to spearhead resource mobilisation for the promotion of cocoa value addition and consumption promotion activities and products in Ghana, to forge strategic partnerships and establish good relationships with relevant organisations in Ghana and on the global landscape.
The association is recognised by Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and other key state institutions as the official umbrella body for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the cocoa value addition sub-industry.
COVAAAGH membership
Membership application is open to persons, companies, partnerships, and other Ghanaian registered entities which share in the objectives. For enquiries on how to become a member, the secretariat can be contacted via email [email protected].
Registered members include Chocoluv Chocolates, Cocoa Post, Kamini Chocolate, Adansi Sweets, Sekoe Chocolates, Bon Chocolat, Partypacks, and Mi-Cocoa Limited. The rest are Amonu Chocolates, Cocoa Bean Chocolates, NicVee Chocolate, Bioko Treats, AllSave Chocolates, Chocolate Haus and Gablin Foods, among others.
