The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has shifted the focus of this year’s National Chocolate Week celebrations to cocoa industrialisation, urging Ghanaians to see chocolate not only as a Valentine’s treat but as a catalyst for economic transformation.
Speaking after delivering a statement on the Floor of Parliament, the Ketu South Member of Parliament stressed that cocoa must be leveraged beyond raw exports to drive job creation and entrepreneurship across multiple sectors.
According to her, the 2026 celebration, themed “Eat Chocolate, Stay Healthy, and Grow Ghana,” with the sub-theme “Experience Ghana, Share the Cocoa Love,” presents an opportunity to deepen local value addition and expand domestic processing capacity.
“Chocolate is a symbol of Ghana’s agricultural excellence, industrial potential, tourism identity, and national resilience,” she stated, underscoring the need to align cocoa promotion with broader national development goals.
The Minister explained that increasing local cocoa processing would open up employment avenues in food technology, packaging, branding, logistics, agribusiness and creative marketing, particularly for young people seeking opportunities within the value chain.
She also highlighted the growing prospects of chocolate tourism, noting that cocoa farm tours, factory visits and chocolate tasting events could diversify the country’s tourism portfolio and increase visitor spending.
While celebrating the gains of the cocoa sector, Madam Gomashie expressed concern over the destructive impact of illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, on cocoa farms. She called for collective action to safeguard cocoa-growing areas from environmental degradation.
National Chocolate Week is observed annually in Ghana alongside Valentine’s Day on February 14, encouraging citizens to share locally produced chocolate as a symbol of love while promoting homegrown industries.
