Government will soon begin the construction of a befitting museum in honour of the late Tetteh Quarshie, the man who brought cocoa to Ghana.

The establishment of the Cocoa museum is in line with the vision of the government to promote local consumption of cocoa.

Tourism and Creative Arts minister, Catherine Afeku who broke grounds for the commencement of the $3m dollar project at Akuapem-Mampong in the Eastern Region said the project will increase the contribution of the golden tree to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The groundbreaking ceremony held Tuesday is just a curtain raiser for the celebration of the world chocolate day tomorrow.

Background

The Ghanaian Agriculturist, Tetteh Quarshie who was born in 1843 was the person directly responsible for the introduction of cocoa crops to Ghana.

Then a blacksmith, he travelled to the island of Fernando Po in Equatorial Guinea in 1870 and returned to Ghana in 1876 with the crop.

 Today, the crop constitutes one of the major export crops and a major foreign exchange earner for the country.

Apart from its nutritional values and health benefits, the commodity has many uses, including, soap making, alcoholic beverages among others.

Recognition

Despite Tetteh Qusrshie's selfless contribution to the history of the country, not much has been done in his honour.

Tourism and Creative Arts minister, Catherine Afeku says Ghana cannot pride itself to be a major exporter of cocoa if it doesn't honour the man who first introduced the cocoa crop in the country.

Leeford Quarshie, a great-grandson of the late Tetteh Quarshie said the family has set up a fund to immortalize the achievements of Tetteh Quarshie.

The museum when completed will have Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm, where tourists will see a live demonstration of the actual planting of the seeds, the agronomical practices of the farmer, the harvesting and drying of the seeds.

The next level will be a walk-through experience of the various stages of cocoa processing where the bean is processed into raw cocoa powder.