Divine Chocolate A Fairtrade company coowned by cocoa

Divine Chocolate: A Fairtrade company coowned by cocoa farmers The thomas deacon academy poetry competition Tutor Group Competition

Have you got your Easter chocolate yet? What couldn’t you live without? Facebook/Snapchat? Phone? Chocolate? Have you ever considered where chocolate comes from? Did you know that some sources of chocolate means that many famers abroad get a very poor income that they cannot live the lives we do? However, there is an alternative chocolate… Please watch this video: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=mk 9 b 3 jb. Jro. M

Divine is a 100% fairtrade company • All Divine Chocolate’s products carry the Fairtrade Mark • The Fairtrade Mark is an independent guarantee that producers in developing countries get a fair deal • That means farmers get a fair price for their products and their communities receive a Fairtrade premium

Meet Raphael Agyapong, son of a Fairtrade cocoa farmer from Ghana This presentation is brought to you by: Photos: Pete Pattisson www. tradingvisions. org www. dubble. co. uk www. petepattisson. com

My name is Raphael Ayapong. I come from Akumadan in the Ashanti region of Ghana. My father’s name is Mr Batu and my mother, Mrs Cecilia Amankwa. My father is a cocoa farmer and my mother is a farmer.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here In the morning I collect water for my family I use a bucket and I go to the well and pump. When it’s full I leave with the bucket on my head and return to the house. (This well was built with Fair-trade money before it was unaffordable)

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here Then I sweep the house and do house chores In the morning I sweep the whole compound or the verandas before I go to school.

Finally, I set off for school in the morning I leave home at about 6: 30 to go to school. This is a picture of me going to school and waving at my parents.

MEET RAPHAEL • Come over from Ghana All the people in the world • Other stuff here My school is called “Great Fammis” The name of my school is called ‘Great Fammis’ in Akumadan. There are 11 teachers and 500 students. (This school was built with the ‘social premium’ from Fairtrade chocolate)

This is me in the classroom (click icon for sound) This is me in the classroom Students are applauded when they answer a question correctly.

MEET RAPHAEL • Come over from Ghana All the people in the world • Other stuff here This is ‘Michael Essien’ at breaktime! Most children in Ghana like football. Ghana is in the World Cup for the first time (2006) and I hope Ghana will do well.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here It is our end of term party This is our last day at school and for that reason we had a party. This is a picture of I and my friend Gideon dancing. I like dancing but Gideon is a better dancer.

MEET RAPHAEL • Come over from Ghana All the people in the world • Other stuff here This is my friend Gideon Most children in Ghana like toys but they don’t buy toys from the shop or the supermarket, they make their own toys. An example is my friend Gideon. He has made a nice fan from tin cans.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here Sometimes after school I hang out with my Dad This is a picture of I and my father going to the farm. My father was riding and I was sitting at the back.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here This is my Dad cutting down a cocoa pod He uses a long knife on a stick.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here This is what a cocoa pod looks like It is shaped like a rugby ball.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here I am doing some weeding on the farm Here I am uprooting the weeds. This is important because the dry cocoa leaves fall to become manure, so when I uproot the weeds it gives a way for the dry leaves to reach the ground.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here After school I also do homework After school we are given homework. When I arrive at home, I take a chair and I put my books down and then I try to do the assignment our teacher gave to us.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here I go to church every Sunday The service lasts about 5 hours.

SLIDE TITLE HERE • Other stuff here My message to young people in the UK… … is that you should continue in the good way you have been doing and support Fairtrade. And also, tell the shops and supermarkets in the UK to stock more Fairtrade chocolate.

So What is Divine’s Social Mission? Improving the lives of cocoa farmers Divine Chocolate’s mission is to improve the lives of West African cocoa farmers by creating and selling chocolate bars that allow the farmers to earn more from the sale of those chocolate bars

The Divine Story Begins with cocoa farmers in Africa. . . • Ghanaian cocoa farmers typically earn less than £ 1 each day • Farmers have little control over the price they get for their cocoa beans • Wanting to gain more control, farmers pooled resources to create a co-operative of cocoa farmers, known as the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union • Kuapa Kokoo means ‘good cocoa farmer’ in Twi, the language of the cocoa farmers

The Divine Story The Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union • • They produce nearly 1% of world cocoa output Around 70% of their cocoa beans are sold to Fairtrade buyers The Fairtrade market is not yet large enough for them to be able to sell all their beans this way As demand for Fairtrade products rise farmers will be able to sell more of their crop through Fairtrade channels The Kuapa Kokoo slogan , Pa Pa Paa, means “best of the best” In 1997 Kuapa Kokoo made the major and innovative decision to set up a chocolate company in the UK in order to get more value from their cocoa

The Divine Story How is the Divine business model different? • Partnership based • Committed to Fairtrade • Ownership

The TDA Chocolate Poem Competition Title/Theme: “A Love that Grows” Rules: Poems must be about theme: “ A Love that Grows” This is the Divine Poetry Competition so make sure you only mention Divine Chocolate and not other chocolate products Try to think beyond common stereotypes of developing countries. Fair Trade is about empowering farmers. Tutor to pick out best poems and send to admin desk by Thursday 14 th April 2016

Here are some exemplary poems that won the national competition in previous years: http: //www. divinechocolate. com/uk/ poetry/winners Can we get a Thomas Deacon Academy winner this year?