A botanist has refuted long-standing claims that Tetteh Quarshie was the primary individual to introduce cocoa beans to Ghana, arguing that the crop was truly introduced by Basel missionaries within the early nineteenth century.
In response to him, the circumstances surrounding Tetteh Quarshie’s alleged transportation of cocoa beans from Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea) don’t maintain up when contemplating journey strategies and seed preservation.
They mentioned Tetteh Quarshie swallowed cocoa beans from Fernando Po to Ghana. By then, who travelled by air? You needed to journey by sea, and from Fernando Po to Equatorial Guinea would take about sixty-seven weeks. Our abdomen just isn’t like that of a chook or a rooster, which, once they drop a seed from their abdomen, it germinates. Our abdomen would truly course of the seed, and the warmth alone in our abdomen can destroy it.
He argued that the true importers of cocoa beans to Ghana had been Basel missionaries, who introduced not solely cocoa but additionally different fruits as a part of their missionary work.
It was the Basel missionaries [who brought cocoa to Ghana]. They got here right here for a mission, and so they introduced not solely cocoa however different fruits so they might have meals to eat throughout their work. They arrived right here within the early 1800s.
Learn Additionally: Tetteh Quarshie hails from Osu, not Mampong – GaDangme Council replies Akufo-Addo
Tetteh Quarshie, an agriculturalist, has lengthy been credited with introducing cocoa to Ghana after allegedly bringing seeds from Fernando Po. Not like the favored principle claiming he swallowed the beans, in depth historic solutions recommend he stored the beans in his device field, as he was a blacksmith. Apparently, historic information additionally point out that he labored as an apprentice beneath Basel missionaries in his youth, suggesting he could have discovered about cocoa cultivation from them.
Over time, different theories have emerged, together with claims {that a} Brazilian reverend was responsible for introducing cocoa to Ghana.
