Cocoa Customs Cause Aids Worries Ghana

Kumasi, Ghana is located in Africa. Ghana is one of the poorest countries in the world so when a good harvest comes they rejoice. Citizens of Ghana harvest cocoa for a living. When a good harvest comes they celebrate by marrying new wives or spending their profits on prostitutes. The reasoning for their celebration is because they want to show off their rare resources. Ghana is the world's second largest cocoa producer. Workers and health officials in West Africa are afraid that their customs are leading to a rise in AIDS and HIV.

Cocoa produces believe harvest time is the best time to enjoy them. They believe the best way to celebrate is have sex with numerous partners. It has become a fact that because of this ongoing habit during harvest times more and more farmers are being tested positive for AIDS and HIV. If all the cocoa farmers became ill with HIV and AIDS one of the largest cocoa industries would fail.

In America minimum wage for a worker brings in about $100 to $200 dollars every two weeks. The poorest cocoa farmer in Ghana only earns a few hundred a year. The richest earns a few thousand. With their money they will take in new wives until the next harvest season. Other farmers will take their earnings and go to local bars. Some will spend their money on prostitutes. The prostitutes have an idea of when harvesting season is so they will make up to nine hour trips to places like Ghana to sell their bodies to the local farmers.

Many farmers do not care about heir families and will go into the city and spend all of their earnings to go back to a starving family and not be able to feed them. There is not an approximate number of how many cocoa farmers have been infected with HIV. It is obvious to heath official that immoral behavior around harvest time creates unhealthy conditions. In Ghana they have no source of protection like we do in America, so they are having sexual relations without protecting themselves from AIDS/HIV and other STD's that our out there. The reason this affects cocoa farmers the most is because all the money they receive at harvest time goes to marrying another wife or having other relations with prostitutes. As the farmers continue this promiscuous behavior everyone in Ghana is eventually going to receive AIDS/HIV. Health services are trying to find a way to stop their way or celebrating before everyone is infected. We have not yet found the cure for AIDS/HIV so if this disease were to infect all of Ghana a large population would most likely die. 3.1 percent of people in Ghana are infected right now. 3.1 percent is a small number compared to other countries in Africa that are mainly infected. Ghana farmers have gone out of the country and into neighboring countries and are infecting people there. One place that has become infected because of Ghana is Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast is the number one country producing cocoa right now. Ghana is the second most popular country in Africa to grow cocoa beans. Ghana grows about 17 percent of the world's cocoa beans, right behind Ivory Coast. Harvest time is mainly between October and December. The farmers collect and sell large numbers of cocoa beans that earns them a large amount of money. The truckers that pick up the beans also find other women at this time, which could be infected them too. As the farmers of Ghana are loading the truck