Cocoa/Chocolate Quiz Competition Past Paper - 2024 - Ghana

**[LITERATURE]** **2024 INTER- SHS COCOA/CHOCOLATE QUIZ COMPETITION** **TO BE HELD IN ACCRA** **ON FRIDAY 13^TH^ FEBRUARY, 2024** **HISTORY OF COCOA/CHOCOLATE (FROM GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE)** 1. Mankind's love affair with chocolate dates back several centuries. Chocolate, the world's sweetest a...

**[LITERATURE]** **2024 INTER- SHS COCOA/CHOCOLATE QUIZ COMPETITION** **TO BE HELD IN ACCRA** **ON FRIDAY 13^TH^ FEBRUARY, 2024** **HISTORY OF COCOA/CHOCOLATE (FROM GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE)** 1. Mankind's love affair with chocolate dates back several centuries. Chocolate, the world's sweetest and most nutritious food, produced from the seeds of tropical cacao (cocoa) tree, native to the rainforests of [Central](https://www.history.com/tags/central-america) and [South America](https://www.history.com/topics/south-america), was long considered the "food of the gods," and later, a delicacy for the elite. 2. For most of its history, chocolate was actually consumed as a bitter beverage rather than the sweet, edible treat it has become worldwide. 3. Evidence suggests Ancestral Mesoamerican Civilisations, like the Olmecs, were amongst the first to start fermenting, toasting, and grinding cocoa beans around 1500 BC. DNA testing of pots and vessels show that the Olmecs were consuming cocoa as drinks and gruels. - **The historic region of Mesoamerica comprises the modern-day countries of northern Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize, and central to southern Mexico. For thousands of years, this area was populated by groups such as the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec peoples.** 4. Ancient Mesoamericans believed chocolate was an energy booster and aphrodisiac with mystical and medicinal qualities. 5. Around 300 AD cocoa started to become a vital part of Mayan society. The [Mayans](https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/maya), who considered cacao a gift from the gods, used chocolate for sacred ceremonies and funeral offerings. Wealthy Mayans [drank foaming chocolate drinks](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chocolate_Wars/oQSMvtA7rvMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22cocoa+with+maize%22&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover), while commoners consumed chocolate in a cold porridge-like dish. The Mayans seasoned their chocolate by mixing the roasted cocoa seed paste into a drink with water, chilli, and corn. The Mayans began cultivating cocoa trees in the first known cocoa farms around [600 AD](https://www.jstor.org/stable/24949918?seq=1). They collected wild cocoa trees from the rainforest and planted these in lowland forest areas which they cleared for their plantations. 6. Similarly, the Aztecs, at the peak of their civilisation, began to acquire a taste for cocoa. The Aztec empire spread across Mesoamerica in the 1400s when they too began to prize cocoa. Since they couldn't grow it in the dry highlands of central [Mexico](https://www.history.com/topics/mexico/history-of-mexico), they traded with the Mayans for the beans, which they even used as currency. (In the 1500s, Aztecs could purchase [a turkey hen or a hare for 100 beans](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beyond_the_Codices/_yDtDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22one+good+turkey+hen+is+worth%22&pg=PA211&printsec=frontcover).) [By one account](https://www.google.com/books/edition/America_s_First_Cuisines/hKVbCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22i+saw+that+they+brought+more+than+50+great+jars%22&pg=PA75&printsec=frontcover), the 16th-century Aztec ruler Moctezuma II drank 50 cups of chocolate a day out of a golden goblet to increase his libido. **COCOA ARRIVES IN EUROPE** 7. When the Spanish Conquistadors (**a conqueror, especially one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century**) arrived in the New World and began the process of invading, colonizing, and ultimately destroying the native cultures, they also discovered the local cocoa crop as early as 1502. They however did not appreciate its awesome potential value until Hernando Cortez drank it with the Aztec emperor, Montezuma, and *[brought it back to the Spanish court in 1528]* along with the equipment necessary for brewing the drink. Back home when Conquistador Hernán Cortés returned to Spain from the New World and brought cocoa beans with him, he described cacao as: 8. In the late ***17th century,*** as cocoa drinking spread across Europe, French, English, and Dutch plantations were also established in the West Indies and South America. Cocoa Plantation subsequently spread across other parts of the world. 9. The Swedish taxonomist, Carl Linnaeus, published his binomial classification system of living things. Prior to this, scientific names of plant and animals consisted of several words grouped together; often making it very confusing. **PRODUCTION OF CHOCOLATE BAR** 10. The British chocolate company J.S. Fry & Sons produced the first chocolate bar in 1847. Though chalk-like bars existed before, it was the first of its kind to combine cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa butter to produce a solid and enjoyable chocolate bar. 11. The world's first milk chocolate bar was created by Swiss Chocolatier, Daniel Peter in 1875. Daniel Peter was neighbour to a young man named Henri Nestlè, who discovered how to manufacture powdered milk in 1867. Daniel Peter combined his chocolate confectionary with Nestlè's powdered milk to produce the world's first solid milk chocolate bar. 12. Prior to 1879, the consistency of chocolate was fairly coarse. This was until Rudolph Lindt invented the first chocolate conching machine. Conching is a process that involves heating and mixing the ingredients of chocolate for several hours to make it extra smooth. 13. The first white chocolate bar made its debut in the 1930s. Like many other brilliant inventions, white chocolate was the result of an accident. At the time, Nestlé was manufacturing Nestrovit, a milk powder that was enriched with minerals and vitamins. 14. *Chocolate landed on the moon with the crew of the Apollo 15 mission in 1971*. However, it wasn't the first time cocoa had made it to space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin [space food](https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-84824-2) consisted of "pureed meat packed in squeezable tubes like toothpaste, followed by another tube containing chocolate sauce." **GHANA'S COCOA STORY** 15. Available records indicate that Dutch missionaries planted cocoa in the coastal areas of the then Gold Coast as early as 1815, whilst in 1857 Basel missionaries also planted cocoa at Aburi. 16. However, these did not result in the spread of cocoa cultivation in the country until 1879 when Tetteh Quarshie, a native of Osu, Accra, who had travelled to Fernando Po, now Equatorial Guinea and worked there as a blacksmith, returned in 1879 with Amelonado cocoa variety and established a farm at Akwapim Mampong in the Eastern Region. 17. Farmers bought pods from his farm to plant and cultivation spread from the Akwapim area to other parts of the country. The crop would soon assume the role of the leading export crop and foreign exchange earner for the country. 18. In recognition of the contribution of cocoa to the development of Ghana, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), then Cocoa Marketing Board (CMB) was established by ordinance in 1947 with the sum of ***¢ 27 million*** (being Ghana\'s share of the net profit of the West African Produce Control Board) as its initial working capital. The Board traces its beginning further back to the cocoa hold-up of 1937. Ministerial responsibility of the **Ministry of Finance was responsible for the Board.** 19. The functions of COCOBOD centre on the production, research, extension, internal and external marketing and quality control. The functions are classified into two main sectors; Pre-harvest and Post-harvest which are performed by specialised divisions and subsidiaries of the Board namely; Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Seed Production Division (SPD), Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), Quality Control Company Ltd (QCC) and the Cocoa Marketing Company Ltd (CMC). -- Their functions should be briefly explained 20. Currently, COCOBOD is implementing a number of Productivity Enhancement Programmes (PEPs) to facilitate increased and sustainable cocoa production in the country. Among them are the: (a brief explanation of PEPs will be helpful) a. ***Mass Pruning Exercise*** b. ***Hand Pollination Programme*** c. ***National Cocoa Rehabilitation Programme*** d. ***Cocoa Diseases and Pests Control Programme (CODAPEC) / Mass Spraying*** e. ***Hitech Programme, among others*** f. ***In addition to the above interventions, COCOBOD recently launched a digital system which seeks to develop a comprehensive database of all cocoa farmers and their farms as well as other relevant stakeholders to ensure a smooth running of the cocoa industry. This system is called Cocoa Management System (CMS). -- Expand on the relevance of the CMS to the sector and include brief information about the Farmers' Pension Scheme.*** **CHOCOLATE/COCOA CONSUMPTION IN GHANA** 21. Cocoa beans from Ghana make up about [20 percent](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ghana-cocoa/incoming-ghana-government-gives-cocoa-sector-chance-of-fresh-start-idUSKBN1481Q5) of the annual global supply, with an average of 850,000 metric tons of cocoa (a ton of cocoa is equal to 16 bags of 64kg). Ghana is widely known for its cocoa beans, but not its chocolate and cocoa consumption. 22. Current per capita **cocoa consumption in the country is about 0.53kg (it's rather 1kg). Elsewhere in the world, per capita consumption of cocoa is between 3-11kg**. 23. In view of the fact that cocoa/chocolate has numerous health and nutritional benefits, and bearing in mind the enormous socio-economic benefits of increased consumption, government has been implementing a number of interventions and campaigns to ensure increased cocoa consumption in the country. Among them is the annual celebration of National Chocolate Day. 24. **Chocolate Day was first celebrated in Ghana in 2007.** 25. The late Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, then Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, introduced the day to replace the Valentine Day celebration which falls on the 14^th^ of February every year. 26. The day has been set aside to promote the local consumption of chocolate and other cocoa-based products and also make chocolate a gift of choice on Valentine's Day. 27. The event has been marked every year since its inception, with the Ministry of Tourism, Ghana COCOBOD and the Cocoa Processing Company at the forefront. -- It's best to say **local processors and artisanal chocolatiers** than to single out CPC 28. *The theme for the celebration is **"Eat Chocolate; Stay Healthy; Grow Ghana"***. 29. **HEALTH BENEFITS OF COCOA/CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION** I. **Lowers Blood Pressure** II. **Has Anti-Oxidant Capacity** III. **Improves Brain Health** IV. **Balances Cholesterol Levels** V. **Improves Diabetes Control** VI. **Relieves Bronchial Asthma** VII. **Speeds up Healing** VIII. **Manages Obesity** IX. **Improves Cardiovascular Health** X. **Cocoa Enhances Mood** XI. **Cocoa Prevents Cancer** XII. **Has Aphrodisiac properties** XIII. **Minimizes pains associated with menstruation** XIV. **Reduces stress** XV. **Good for the Skin** XVI. **Minimizes Physical Signs of aging**