Hershey to provide ghana families with malaria prevention training
through cocoalink network
Accra, ghana--(business wire)--the hershey company (nyse: hsy) today announced enhancements to its cocoalink mobile phone network that include disease prevention, cell phones for women farmers and solar chargers for rural villages. the new features include: a partnership with the respected nonprofit organization malaria no more to leverage cocoalink’s connection to rural cocoa villages to help save lives. malaria no more is part of a global effort that seeks to end malaria deaths in africa by 2015. an internal smart phone recycling program, collecting more than 500 smart phones no longer being used by hershey’s u.s. employees. the phones will be redeployed to women across ghanaian cocoa communities by the end of the year to bridge a gender gap in mobile handset ownership. “cocoalink: connecting cocoa communities” is a unique farmer outreach program developed by hershey, the world cocoa foundation and the ghana cocoa board. cocoalink is a first-of-its kind program that uses mobile voice and sms text messages delivered in local languages or english to connect cocoa farmers with important information about improving farming practices, farm safety, child labor, health, crop disease prevention, post-harvest production and crop marketing. since its launch in july, cocoalink community trainers have already enrolled more than 2,500 farmers, putting the program on track to directly reach more than 8,000 ghanaian cocoa farmers and community members by next year. cocoalink’s early participants have expressed enthusiasm for the program’s potential to improve their livelihoods. “i have registered with my husband’s phone number and when i get the message, my children can help me read it out. when i have a problem on the farm i can text or call for help and they will come to help me. i’m expecting that it will help us in the community,” said farmer vida annoh, kojokrom, sefwi akontonbra district. “i know that cocoalink will add more improvement to my life as a farmer,” added aseadu kwarteng, a farmer in asanteman, sefwi akontonbra district. “i have registered and so have other community members. my prayer is that the program will stay with us here in the communities.” malaria prevention malaria continues to have a devastating effect on the health and wellbeing of residents across africa, so the hershey company is also adding malaria prevention to the cocoalink program. cocoalink will join malaria no more’s nightwatch program, which focuses on increasing the use of mosquito nets in malaria-endemic communities. nightwatch is a communications campaign that broadcasts messages each night at 9 p.m., the time that malarial mosquitoes come out. the messages remind people to sleep under their mosquito nets and include information about healthy behaviors, such as the need to seek prompt malaria testing and treatment. hershey and its cocoalink partners will include nightwatch malaria prevention messages in its ongoing series of sms texts to cocoa farmers. “by partnering with malaria no more, we will be able to provide families with valuable information that can save lives and reduce suffering,” said andy mccormick, vice president, public affairs, for hershey. “cocoalink is a natural extension of malaria no more’s commitment to connect families through new and emerging communications technology.” “we are thrilled to have the hershey company and its cocoalink partners, the world cocoa foundation and the ghana cocoa board, join us in our fight to end malaria in africa,” said kate campana, managing director of impact programs for malaria no more. “bringing cocoalink into our nightwatch program will send a powerful message about the importance of preventing malaria, especially among young children.” focus on women farmers cocoalink recently became one of the first company programs to be endorsed by the u.s. department of labor as part of its $17 million framework of action to combat the worst forms of child labor in ghana and the ivory coast. the hershey company is a founding partner and a sponsor of the framework of action. the cocoalink program expansion will benefit families in cocoa communities, especially women and children. today, ghana’s mobile phone coverage spans more than 85 percent of the country and more than 65 percent of rural residents have access to mobile phones. however, because fewer than half of the women in the 15 cocoalink villages have their own phones, hershey will provide an initial 150 mobile phones to women farmers, using reconfigured phones collected from its employees. while mobile phones have become commonplace in rural cocoa communities, reliable access to electricity poses a challenge to many rural phone owners. madeleine blommer, a member of the blommer chocolate company family, the largest cocoa bean processor in north america, has contributed solar chargers to help ease this problem. hershey and its cocoalink partners will utilize the cocoalink network of trainers and community leaders to help distribute the solar chargers. cocoalink’s local trainers are also part of the successful wcf echoes alliance’ functional literacy and numeracy training program, another on-the-ground program in which hershey is actively involved. solar chargers will also be distributed by peace corp volunteers, who are helping with cocoalink farmer training and implementation. ghana has more than 700,000 cocoa farmers and increasing farmer productivity is a key imperative for the ghana cocoa board. through cocoalink, farmers receive free information from cocoa agricultural experts. in addition, farmers are taught where and how to find answers to their questions about cocoa growing issues. cocoalink is on track for a broad scale-up and is well positioned to reach more than 100,000 people in ghana’s cocoa region. all interested ghana cocoa farmers can enroll in cocoalink. bill guyton, president of the world cocoa foundation, said, "it is encouraging to see cocoalink growing to include malaria education for farming families. the wcf echoes alliance aims to strengthen cocoa-growing communities through a comprehensive approach including functional literacy and agricultural skills training, as well as practical life skills training about hiv/aids and malaria." for more information about cocoalink, visit: http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/what-we-do/current-programs/cocoalink.asp about the hershey company the hershey company (nyse: hsy) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in north america and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. headquartered in hershey, pa., the hershey company has operations throughout the world and more than 12,000 employees. with revenues of nearly $6 billion, hershey offers confectionery products under more than 25 brand names, including such iconic brands as hershey's, reese's, hershey's kisses, hershey's bliss, hershey's special dark and hershey's extra dark, kit kat, twizzlers, and ice breakers. hershey also is a leader in the premium and artisan chocolate segments, with such brands as scharffen berger and dagoba, offered through the artisan confections company, a wholly owned subsidiary. the company is focused on growing its presence in key international markets such as china and mexico while continuing to build its competitive advantage in the united states and canada. for more than 100 years, the hershey company has been a leader in making a positive difference in the communities where its employees live, work and do business. corporate social responsibility is an integral part of the company’s global business strategy, which includes goals and priorities focused on fair and ethical business dealings, environmental stewardship, fostering a desirable workplace for employees, and positively impacting society and local communities. milton hershey school, established in 1909 by the company's founder and administered by hershey trust company, provides a quality education, housing, and medical care at no cost to children in social and financial need. students of milton hershey school are direct beneficiaries of the hershey company's success.
