Commandments of culture
Over centuries, there has always been a power distance in Ghana. The inhabitants were oppressed by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English and their own dictator in the 80s. This power distance has had a huge impact on how the cocoa industry was formed. The cocoa farmers are very poor and this will not change if the fixed cocoa price stays this low.
As oil has been found in the Ghanaian soil, the population fears that only the government will benefit from this valuable resource. This reflects a lack of morality in a particular society. The law is bent to individual needs that harm the universalistic approach.
On the other hand, Ghana shows an excellent attitude towards different religions living in the same region. The majority is Christian, but there are lots of Muslims and people who have a polytheistic belief. The external society shows that these ethically different groups can live in harmony.
Due to the coups and the resulting dictatorship in 1981, a lot of people fled to neighbour country Nigeria. This event breaks the collectivism in a country and people are suddenly on their own. This harms the country and is clearly visible in the economic fall.
One very important issue in a Civil Society is a free market economy. One should be free to sell and buy their produced goods or products to whomever they want. However, this is not possible in Ghana. The farmers need to sell their cocoa to an LBC for a fixed price. Negotiation is not possible. Exporting the beans to Ivory Coast (where a variable price is used) raises more money. This is however seen as smuggling.
FIS for technology transfer
In our project Van Alphen’s FIS methode is applied best, because TAHMO includes a technology from the Delft University of Technology. This weather knowledge is transferred to Africa and in this case Ghana specifically. This is why Van Alphen is preferred over Hekkert.
‘Entrepreneurial activities’ is one of the main aspects that Farmerline is doing at the moment. They have written several Business Model Canvasses (BMCs) to explain all their ideas how to create additional value from the TAHMO data and sell this in a product. This is very positive and makes Farmerline more likely to have a feasible product or service.
‘Creation of adaptive capacity’ is still a slight issue. The government in Ghana understands that weather data is indeed valuable for the future of cocoa farms. However, they do not see the urge of this matter to invest in it soon. Weather data is not a priority on the agenda yet. This should change if this TAHMO technology is to make a huge impact.
The service Farmerline is offering is still in its infancy. Marketing should be done to make the farmers aware of the product. On the radio, the weather forecast will be improved and this should also function as a marketing tool to make Ghanaians more engaged in climate.
‘Demand articulation’ and ‘Market formation’ go hand in hand here. There certainly is a huge market for the product. In Ghana alone, there are already 2.5 million cocoa farmers. All these farmers benefit from the data if they use it. The service will help them to improve the comprehension of the behaviour of the cocoa plants. If they realise this, they most certainly will see the benefits.
Resources should be gathered from the LBCs. This is also one of the more difficult parts in the project. The LBCs should be convinced to pay for the data, but they should also feel that they get something in return. The farmers and the LBCs should both sign a contract where the farmer promises to sell all of his cocoa to the LBC and the LBC in its turn promises to pay for the weather data. The LBCs do have money to pay for these services. Wienco is an example of an LBC that already sponsors the weather forecast on the television.
If it succeeds to have the Farmer Forecast become part of the incumbent regime, the project has excelled. This means that the stakeholders understand why the weather data is so important and they are willing to invest in it. They even see it as something which conforms to the norms of society. This is the final goal, but all functions mentioned above should be met in order to achieve this level of integration.