Breaking cocoa pods to scoop out the beans on a large scale can be an arduous task, in fact, labour-intensive and time consuming.

A farmer at Fomena in the Ashanti Region has,  however, designed a simple metallic tool to simplify the process.

In the Adansi North District, Ofori Tweneboah has been struggling to break his cocoa pods after harvesting.

In the face ageing and weakening limbs, farmhands are difficult to come by, he therefore devised this tool to make the task of getting cocoa beans out of piles of pods less burdensome.

The machine has blades, one for cutting the tip of the pod, the others run along the length of a lever, supported by a metal base.

The blades are positioned to ensure the beans are not destroyed in the process of sliding the pod open.

Mr. Ofori hopes to improve on the present design to a bigger capacity to take five or more pods at a time.

The Technology Consultancy Centre of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is providing technical support.

The centre also looks to assist Mr. Ofori to commercialize the technology.