Ataa-Asantewaa Martha

Dr. Ataa-Asantewaa Martha (Kakra) grew up in the smallholder cocoa sector in Ghana and considers herself a smallholder cocoa farmer. She works as an Independent Research Consultant in the cocoa sector and is now an Associate Consultant with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) in the Netherlands.

With her PhD, Kakra looked extensively at smallholder cocoa farmers, paying particular attention to farmer segmentation, livelihood trajectories, and household food and nutrition security. She reveals four cocoa farming household profiles that have implications for farmers’ livelihoods, household food and nutrition security, and inclusivity in policies and support for farmers. She is currently working with Anna Laven (KIT), looking further into farmer segmentation and its implications for EU deforestation regulation and other policies in the cocoa sector, sponsored by the Include Platform (NL).

Since 2019, Kakra has been working with KIT in the cocoa sector, where she was involved in the assessment of the Lindt Sprungli Farmers Program (LSFP) in Ghana and the IUCN-sponsored Mobilizing More for Climate (MoMo4C) Project in the Mole landscape of Ghana.

Kakra holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Ghana, a Master's degree in Agroforestry from Bangor University, Wales, UK, and Masters’ in Tropical Forestry and Management from the Technische Universität in Dresden, Germany. She recently graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a PhD in Development Studies.