Key takeaways
- Veriground's Ghana pilot in the Offinso district has run since 2021, using localized weather forecasts to help extension officers time fertilizer and agrochemical applications more precisely.
- Since the pilot began, Offinso's share of Ghana's national cocoa crop has risen roughly 60%, making it one of Ashanti's top-producing districts.
- Veriground estimates that scaling the Offinso approach industry-wide could avoid $115 million in fertilizer waste, add 250,000 tons to Ghana's cocoa crop, and save the wider cocoa industry an estimated $1.25 billion through eased global price pressure.
- Veriground is proposing a funded expansion - 500 sites in Côte d'Ivoire (€3.0M/year, 3 years) and 400 sites in Ghana (€2.0M/year, 2 years) - with cost-sharing open to industry via TogetherCocoa or the World Cocoa Foundation.
Cocoa smallholders across West Africa lack good localized weather forecasts, and the cost is real: on rain-fed cocoa, mistimed fertilizer and agrochemical applications are washed away or wasted - losses estimated at up to 50%. Veriground addresses this with a dense network of local weather stations paired with direct, farmer-friendly forecast delivery by SMS, WhatsApp, and USSD. The network already runs 75 stations in Ghana, 80 in Côte d'Ivoire, and additional sites in Ecuador, generating seven-day forecasts for smallholders, cooperatives, governments, and research bodies. Incubated by Commodities Risk Analysis, a 45-year cocoa advisor, Veriground is built to serve farmers and industry together.
The proof point is Veriground's pilot in Ghana's Offinso district, running since 2021: extension officers used the forecasts to time fertilizer applications, and Offinso's share of Ghana's national crop has risen roughly 60% since, making it one of Ashanti's best cocoa districts. Extrapolated across Ghana's 70 cocoa districts, Veriground estimates the approach could unlock $115 million in avoided fertilizer waste, a 250,000-ton increase in Ghana's cocoa crop, and roughly $600 in additional income per farmer - with the resulting supply increase easing global cocoa prices enough to save the wider industry an estimated $1.25 billion.
Veriground is now proposing to scale the model: 500 additional sites across Côte d'Ivoire over three years (€3.0 million per year) and 400 additional sites across Ghana over two years (€2.0 million per year), with industry cost-sharing welcome through vehicles such as TogetherCocoa or the World Cocoa Foundation.