Established in 2001, ECOM Ghana set out to be a leading agro-industrial company with a primary focus on the cocoa value chain. The company is a member of the Ghana Cocoa Buyers Association and a subsidiary of ECOM Agro-industrial Corporation, a Swiss-based commodity merchant and sustainable supply chain management organization with operations in over 40 countries around the world.
Our vision is to create rural prosperity for our farmers through innovation, efficiency and empowerment, in order to address the issues that contribute to low cocoa production and improve farmers’ ability to capitalize on global demand and access a sustainable source of income. To ensure that this vision is achieved, we work with over 140,000 small-holder farmers to help them grow their businesses and this, has put us at the forefront of changing the industry and driving a one-of-a-kind business model that ensures the future of Ghana’s cocoa and other crops.
Although we began as a Licensed Cocoa Buying Company (LBC) in 2001, purchasing approximately 30,000 MT per year, we have grown to become one of Ghana’s leading private LBCs, purchasing between 100,000 and 130,000 MT of cocoa beans per year. With over 20 years in the agribusiness supply chain, we have grown from a single entity to a conglomerate of companies comprised of AgroEcom Ghana Limited, Unicom Ghana Limited, Sustainability Management Services (SMS), Kiteko Ghana Limited, Crop Doctor Ghana Limited, Sourcetrust Ghana Limited, Unicom Specialty Commodities, COFCO, and JNF Properties Limited.
Kiteko is the transport and logistics wing of the business, operating a fleet of 170modern trucks with top-notch technological processes and tracking tools that offer unmatched expertise and proficient haulage and logistic services.
ECOM Ghana takes a “hands-on” approach to working with local farmers, and it does so through a number of initiatives, each designed to enrich lives.
One such initiative is Crop Doctor. Crop Doctor’s focus is to provide a complete service for the farmer, not only providing inputs to protect the crops from diseases, but also equipping them with knowledge about farming, disease control, and infestation identification. We also provide convenient payment options to ensure the farmer makes timely applications without having to worry about his cash flow.
Crop Doctor is able to offer this facility to farmers at a much cheaper price, which helps them to serve the farmer better. In order to modernize Ghanaian agriculture and make farming easier, more efficient, and profitable, Crop Doctor has introduced the new “Micromec Solutions” to small holder cocoa farmers.
The machinery is designed to suit Ghanaian agricultural challenges and offers a variety of machines ranging from land preparation, planting, spraying, harvesting, and threshing, to post-harvest solutions as well as PPEs, all with flexible payment alternatives. Since its inception, the MICROMEC Farm Machinery has been performing magic for our farmers.
Thanks to its low-cost, easy-to-use and maintain, affordable and efficient nature, which ultimately creates prosperity in our rural communities for our valued farmers across the country. Customers also have the opportunity to take advantage of complimentary post-purchase services and training as part of our offerings.
The company’s farm services do not stop there. ECOM’s Sustainability Management Services (SMS) work with farmers to enable them to improve their yield through best practices in agriculture, environmental and social standards. SMS also works on additional livelihood programs, “Farmer Business School” trainings that equip the farmer with the knowledge to see farming as a business and enable a year-round income generation opportunity.
ECOM Ghana is also committed to societal well-being through strategic philanthropic initiatives as part of our corporate social responsibility to empower people, promote inclusion, and significantly support national development. Our current portfolio focuses on sustainable livelihoods, healthcare, education, and providing access to potable water, with the potential to improve the lives of millions of Ghanaians while demonstrating the innovative use of technology to promote development.
In terms of livelihoods, ECOM Ghana has created over 6,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for over 4,500 purchasing clerks, 200 depot keepers, 700 loading boys, and 140 security personnel. Last year, we enrolled 28 graduates from the various tertiary institutions in the country for the National Service Scheme and had 90% retention rate.
This year, we have enrolled 31 of them in the hopes of maintaining our retention rate based on individual output. Our goal to help young people secure jobs is inherent in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, which seeks to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Apart from providing job opportunities for Ghanaians, we are also committed to making our community’s health a top priority. This determination inspired us to inaugurate the $200,000.00 clinic in the Okaikwei Central Constituency of the Greater Accra Region in order to improve healthcare delivery in the community. The facility has two wards, a laboratory, a pharmacy, an outpatient clinic, a kitchen, and a washroom. This is in addition to the over 7 hospitals we have established over the years to provide Ghanaians with quality health care.
We are committed to National development and hence, in the last seven years, we have established over 37 schools, 50 computer classrooms, and refurbished and renovated 27 schools. We have also invested GHS1.4 million into the Otumfour Agroecom Mobile Learning Platform (OAMLP), which trains over 40,000 rural children in ICT.
That aside, we support school construction projects by donating classroom ergonomics and building materials. Just last year, we donated 240 dual desks to schools in our operational areas. When COVID-19 was at its peak in the country a few years ago, we reached out to schools in 33 towns by distributing 15,000 literary and 15,000 dictionaries through our OAMLP Project. In addition, 560 dictionaries were distributed in six of our Ashanti Region operational communities. The OAMLP is a program designed solely to improve the reading skills of rural school children.
To ensure that our operational communities have potable drinking water, we have established 352 community boreholes, which provide safe drinking water to over 500,000 cocoa farmers. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the spread of communicable diseases associated with drinking contaminated water. Our Sustainability Management Services (SMS) team also established two boreholes in the Obuasi and New Edubiase districts in the early part last year. This demonstrates our patriotism for the country and our dedication to the prosperity of our rural communities.
The National digitization agenda is not lost on us as a technology-driven company; we have implemented a digital group premium payment system for farmers. The system operates by allowing each farmer group to receive bulk premium funds into their respective farmer group bank accounts. It employs a real-time tracking tool prior to payment, ensuring that our premium payment processes are more flexible but secure, easily tracked and monitored, and that farmers receive money directly with ease.
Last year, we received two outstanding awards at the Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) awards, which demonstrates our keen interest in facilitating the growth of the Ghanaian economy through our CSR activities. While the company was named the “Best Company in Stakeholder Engagement,” our capable country director, Muhammadu Muzzammil, received the “Sustainability Leadership” award (https://thebftonline.com/2021/12/10/ecom-wins-awards-for-its-csr-initiatives/#:~:text=ECOM%20Ghana%2C%20a%20pioneer%20in,the%20’Sustainability%20Leadership’%20award.)
On top of these honors, we have received a slew of others that have distinguished us from the “crowd” and helped us establish our credibility. And we hope to achieve even more milestones through our vision of creating rural prosperity agenda.
ECOM Ghana wishes all Ghanaians a Happy Independence Day! Long live ECOM Ghana, long live our Homeland Ghana!!!
