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ASKI – Agroforestry Skills and Knowledge Initiative for Ghana Cocoa Sector

The ASKI pilot seeks to equip Ghana’s cocoa sector with the skills, systems, and institutional capacity needed to transition smallholder farmers from fragmented, low-shade monoculture practices to coordinated, climate-resilient agroforestry systems aligned with SWISSCO’s (Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa) gold standard. Its vision is to make agroforestry a practical, scalable, and institutionally supported pathway that strengthens farmer livelihoods while advancing Ghana’s climate, biodiversity, and EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) commitment.
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Ahafo Region
7.0000258
-2.539603
Ghana
Project duration
2026 - 2027
Financed by
  • State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
Project Partner
  • Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO)

Ghana’s cocoa sector, which supports over 800,000 smallholder farmers and contributes significantly to national foreign exchange earnings, is increasingly under pressure from the long-term effects of full-sun monoculture farming. Declining soil fertility, rising pest and disease outbreaks, and increasing climate variability are reducing productivity and destabilizing farmer incomes. At the same time, Ghana must comply with emerging environmental and market requirements such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and broader climate commitments, placing additional pressure on how cocoa is produced.

Although agroforestry is widely recognized as a sustainable solution to these challenges, current efforts to promote it remain fragmented, technically inconsistent, and insufficiently institutionalized. There is a shortage of accredited trainers, limited training infrastructure, weak coordination among actors, and underdeveloped financial mechanisms to support farmers’ transition. Without addressing these systemic gaps, smallholder farmers lack the knowledge, support services, and incentives needed to adopt higher-level agroforestry systems at scale.

The Project

The ASKI pilot addresses the systemic barriers preventing agroforestry adoption in Ghana’s cocoa sector by strengthening training institutions, building a skilled agroforestry workforce, generating applied research evidence, and designing innovative financing mechanisms that incentivize farmer transition. The theory of change is that if national training centers, research institutions, extension systems, and private actors are equipped with standardized knowledge, accredited skills, and coordinated tools for agroforestry, and if farmers are supported with both technical services and financial incentives, then agroforestry can move from scattered pilot efforts to a scalable, institutionalized practice across the cocoa landscape.

 

Specific innovation

A key innovation of the project is the combined approach of:

  • Establishing and supporting a Centre of Excellence in Goaso linked to existing institutions such as Bunso Cocoa College and CRIG,
  • Creating a Sankofa accreditation system for Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) workers and trainers, and
  • Designing an Outcome-Based Payment (OBP) model supported by robust Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems and linked to carbon finance pathways.

This integrated model connects skills development, institutional learning, scientific evidence, and financial incentives into one coherent system for scaling agroforestry.

 

Most important activities

  • Developing a 5-module training and accrediting 80 DAF workers through a Youth Training and Training-of-Trainers program at the Goaso Centre of Excellence.
  • Mapping agroforestry actors and training centers, creating knowledge repositories, and co-developing vocational training modules with institutions like Bunso Cocoa College.
  • Conducting baseline reviews, profitability studies, and business model assessments with research partners such as CRIG and ETH Zurich to inform scaling strategies.
  • Designing and validating an Outcome-Based Payment pilot and exploring carbon finance opportunities to incentivize farmer adoption of agroforestry.

 

Beneficiaries

The primary beneficiaries are Ghanaian smallholder cocoa farmers who will gain access to improved knowledge, services, and financial incentives to adopt agroforestry systems. Secondary beneficiaries include extension workers, trainers, and youth who gain accredited agroforestry skills, as well as national institutions strengthened to support climate-resilient cocoa production at scale

Expected results

  • A fully operational basic training infrastructure is established at the Goaso Centre of Excellence to host agroforestry trainings.
  • A standardized 5-module agroforestry training and Sankofa accreditation system is developed and implemented.
  • 80 Dynamic Agroforestry (DAF) workers are trained, tested, and certified to deliver agroforestry services in their communities.
  • Existing training institutions such as Bunso Cocoa College are equipped with co-created vocational modules and knowledge repositories on basic, advanced, and dynamic agroforestry.
  • Evidence from baseline, profitability, and service-model studies informs national strategies for scaling agroforestry adoption.
  • A validated Outcome-Based Payment (OBP) model and stakeholder agreement are in place to financially incentivize farmer transition to agroforestry.

News

Ghana
11.03.2026
Enhancing Cocoa Productivity Through Youth Skills in Dynamic Agroforestry
Swisscontact Ghana, in partnership with Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) and other sector partners, has organized a targeted training program to equip youth and farmer representatives with essential skills in cocoa pruning and grafting. The training forms part of the Sankofa 3.0 Project and the Agroforestry Skills and Knowledge Initiative (ASKI), which aim to strengthen sustainable farming practices and improve productivity in Ghana’s cocoa sector.