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Cacao pods hanging from a tree in the jungle

Ghana

We were invited to Ghana to meet Dr. Martin Yeboah Wood PHD, inventor of the technology that uses waste cocoa husks to produce organic source potassium carbonate.
Why Ghana?

OPC looks to locate its first production facility in Takoradi-Sekondi, Ghana's second largest city. Takoradi-Sekondi is a vibrant industrial and commercial centre with the chief industries being cocoa, oil, timber, plywood, shipbuilding, and railroad repair. Within reach of this metropolitan centre is some of the most productive cocoa areas in the world. What this means to OPC is that all vital infrastructure necessary to successful operations are already in place including, shipping, roads, hydro, railway lines and skilled workers.

Statistics
+5.7% y/y growth in cocoa production
1.6Million Farmers in Ghana's cocoa industry
+60% of the country's agricultural base
905,000tons Yearly cocoa harvest
Ghana map Tema and Accra and secondi takoradi
red cacao pods hanging from jungle tree
Dr . Martin Yeboah Woode Ph.D.

Dr.Woode is the inventor of the patented process licensed to OPC that allows us to turn cocoa pods from a waste product into valuable potassium carbonate and other byproducts. Dr. Woode holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry and a certificate in Strategic Management and Corporate Planning. Dr. Woode has served as a department head of the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering department at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

discarded cocoa pods stripped of beans

Testing the Process

Our potassium carbonate has been verified as being a minimum 99.2% in purity by both SGS, the industry leader for inspection, verification, testing and certification services and by Intertek, a trusted partner for testing services for many of the world’s leading brands and companies.

SGS Ghana logo
smiling woman holding cacao pods

Our Goal

Women primarily collect and stack cocoa pods which are left in piles and eventually rot. Our goal is to have these women collect the cocoa pods for OPC in raw form or alternatively to burn the pods in special kilns and sell the ash to our local facility for processing. This will empower local women by providing employment and assist them in achieving better socio-economic positioning while contemporaneously recycling a previously denominated waste product.

Our goal is about achieving economic, organic and sustainable prosperity in partnership with the local community and in particular women and helping the community, in all chapters of their lives.

Organic Potash Corporation sees its role as more than just a processor but as an agent for change and contributing to the local community on multiple levels. Heather Welner our CEO sponsors the Integrity Foundation School in Larteh-Akuapem, with approximately 25-30 students from Kindergarden to grade 8.

The Future

The future is to continue to grow our production levels. We will build additional plants to utilize as many of the available cocoa husks in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire as possible, and then expand to other cocoa producer’s in West Africa.

locals walking through Adjamé Market, abidjan, ivory coast

Learn more about our projects in West Africa

Discover Côte d'Ivoire