Ghana Cooperative Council Executives commend impact of Apex-10 fertilizer booster after US visit
In August 2023, King Global Ventures Holdings LTD (KGV) based in the United States of America, headed by King Ohene Obeng Asomaning, along with Kevin Mulvihill, Chief Executive Officer of J.S. Hovnanian & Sons (JSHI), Jeff Weeler of Lyons and Sons, and Kip Walk, CEO of Sustainable Path Consult, played host to the Ghana Cooperative Council (GCC).
The GCC represents a cocoa cooperative organization from Ghana, consisting of approximately 2 million cocoa farmers.
The primary objective of this collaboration is to advocate the use of Apex-10, a fertilizer booster, among cocoa farmers. The initiative aims to enhance the quality of yields, encompassing not only cocoa beans but also promoting the restoration of cocoa trees and soils. This, in turn, reduces dependence on artificial fertilizers and toxins by around 50%, while amplifying the efficacy of fertilizers by 110%.
Apex-10 further mitigates reliance on irrigation by 30% and has remarkably increased cocoa production yields, in many cases up to six times the previous output.
The visit served to reassure GCC executives that KGV and JSHI are not only providing Apex-10 to Ghanaian farmers but are also committed to imparting best agricultural practices. The collaboration seeks to expose farmers to healthy farming practices and connect them with major buyers of cocoa beans and medium small-scale manufacturers of cocoa products.
All GCC farmers have adopted Apex-10, revitalizing the profitability of farming and dissuading them from selling their lands to illegal miners. This positive shift has also encouraged the youth to engage in farming, as their parents are no longer solely reliant on government loans with high interest rates.
Launched globally in Ghana approximately four years ago, Apex-10 is now available in twenty-three countries across three continents, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Togo, Indonesia, Trinidad and Tobago, and soon-to-be-announced inclusion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, covering leading cocoa-growing nations worldwide.
Plans are underway to expand these visits annually to numerous farmer groups and cooperatives, offering them the opportunity to visit the USA. During these visits, universities specializing in farming and agriculture will conduct seminars and non-credit courses. KGV and JSHI, in collaboration with private and government sectors such as the USA Commercial Services and the USA Embassy in Ghana, will host these exposure trips to the USA.
KGV Holdings, a consulting firm with bases in the USA, Ghana, and London, oversees various entities under its ownership, including engineering, agriculture, sports, horticulture, and sanitation. The firm serves as the global master implementation partner of JSHI, responsible for awarding sovereign contracts to new partners in respective countries.
J.S. Hovnanian & Sons (JSHI), proprietors of NaturesWonder.com, specialize in manufacturing Apex-10 organic fertilizer boosters for agriculture and horticulture. The firm produces Sanihancer for sanitation, prodex for wastewater management, and several other organic brands that are safe and environmentally friendly.
Lyon’s and Sons manages about 15 warehouses around Camden ports and a few sites across New Jersey. These warehouses, the largest in the USA, hold approximately 80% of all cocoa entering the country—equivalent to about 450,000 metric tons of cocoa beans from global sources.
Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire stand out as leading cocoa producers, with Ghana maintaining the top standard for premium beans.
Sustainability Path Consult, a prominent investment and cocoa beans global trading consulting firm, acts as an intermediary between buyers of cocoa beans and countries producing cocoa beans, managing major firms, manufacturers, and global buyers of cocoa beans.
The Ghanaian team was led by Vice President Adama Issah, General Secretary Albert Boakye, and Managers Sule Mohammed and Samuel Anarfi.