How AgroPy 5EW Helped Suhum Cocoa Farmers Cut Crop Loss and Keep Their Organic Certification

When Kwame Adjei looks across his three-hectare cocoa farm just outside Suhum, in Ghana's Eastern Region, he sees more than trees. He sees a certification that took years to earn — and a harvest that feeds his family.

Two seasons ago, that harvest was under threat.

The problem: pests that don't respect certification

Like many smallholders in the Yayra Glover organic cocoa network, Kwame farms without synthetic chemicals. It is what earns his beans a premium price and keeps his soil alive for the next generation. But organic status comes with a hard constraint: when capsids (mirids) and cocoa pod borers move in, the usual synthetic sprays are simply not an option.

"The insects were piercing the young pods and the cherelles were dying on the tree. I could see 30 to 40 percent of my crop slipping away — and I couldn't spray anything that would cost me my certification."

That is the trap thousands of certified-organic cocoa farmers face across West Africa. Do nothing and lose the harvest; spray a synthetic and lose the certification.

The switch to AgroPy 5EW

Through his cooperative, Kwame was introduced to AgroPy 5EW — a natural, pyrethrum-based contact insecticide formulated specifically for organic cocoa. Its active ingredient, 5% pyrethrins, is extracted from the African chrysanthemum flower (Tanacetum cinerariaefolium). It is solvent-free, non-flammable, and leaves no harmful residues.

The application was straightforward:

• Dosage: roughly 7.27 ml of AgroPy 5EW per 1 litre of water
• Method: a fine mist applied with a high-pressure nozzle
• Timing: early morning and late afternoon, avoiding the midday heat
• Rotation: alternated with MargoShine Neem Oil, never tank-mixed with any synthetic

Because AgroPy 5EW has a short 24-hour harvest interval, Kwame could keep working his farm without long waiting periods between spraying and picking.

The results

By the end of the season, the difference was clear across the cooperative's plots:

1. Over 90% efficacy against the listed pests — capsids, mirids, aphids and borers.
2. Crop loss cut dramatically, protecting the 30–40% of yield that had previously been at risk.
3. Certification kept intact — AgroPy 5EW is approved by CRIG and EPA Ghana, and holds ECOCERT (EU & NOP) listings.

"For the first time in years I wasn't choosing between my harvest and my certification. I kept both."

Why it matters for Ghana's organic value chain

Stories like Kwame's are exactly why Yayra Glover Organic Inputs exists. Every bottle of AgroPy 5EW that reaches a farm in Suhum, Koforidua or beyond strengthens the organic commodity value chain — protecting farmer incomes, safeguarding soil and water, and keeping certified-organic Ghanaian cocoa competitive on the world market.

We are now working toward local formulation in Suhum, processing AgroPy 5EW concentrate into finished product right here in Ghana. That means lower costs, better availability, and affordable, certified-organic crop protection within reach of even more farmers.

---

Want to protect your cocoa the organic way? Browse AgroPy 5EW in our shop or message us on WhatsApp at +233 53 048 5235 for advice tailored to your farm.