Banking the Cocoa Farmer in Ghana: The Role of Mobile Technology

Mobile banking technology (for example, mobile money) plays a significant role in the Ghanaian cocoa value chain. In the cocoa payment chain, digital financial services provide the likelihood of enhanced proficiency and transparency. However, regardless of the advanced progressive state of mobile technology (for example, m-money) and the high level of knowledge of it among rural farmers in Ghana, the use of the service is presently restricted to personal money transfers and does not apply to farming activities or to the broader use of financial services that can boost their financial lives. The Ghanaian farmers’ situations outlined above address the need for some conceptualisations on how technology (and mobile technology in particular) can be leveraged for the improved delivery of financial services in Ghana’s cocoa sector by the licensed buying companies (LBC’s), farmers, and all critical stakeholders of the cocoa value chain. Therefore, this chapter proposes a Cocoa Farmer Access to Mobile Banking Technology Model that conceptualises fundamental ways through which mobile technology could be leveraged by cocoa farmers in rural areas as a way of bridging the financial inclusion gap.