Tetteh Quarshie is a legendary figure in Ghana’s history. He is celebrated for his pioneering role in bringing cocoa to Ghana, which has a profound impact on the country’s economy.

He grew up in a farming family. His mother was known as Asong-Fio from Labadi, both hailing from the Ga-Dangme ethnic group. In his teen Tetteh Quarshie became an apprentice in Basel Mission workshop at Akropong.

Tetteh Quarshie was a pre-independence Ghanaian agriculturalist and the person directly responsible for the introduction of Cocoa crops in Ghana which today constitutes one of the major export crops of the Ghanaian economy.

Quarshie travelled to the island of Fernando Po now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea in 1870 and returned to Ghana in 1879 with cocoa pods and plants hidden in his clothing

He encountered cocoa plants and learned about cocoa cultivation and processing.

He planted these cocoa seeds on his family’s farm in Mampong-Akuapim, in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Tetteh Quarshie’s contribution to Ghana’s economy and agriculture is commemorated with statues, monuments

and an annual holiday known as ‘’Cocoa Day’’ in Ghana.

His legacy lives on as Ghana continues to be one of the world’s leading cocoa-producing countries.

He is often referred to as the ‘’Father of the Ghana Cocoa Industry.’’

Tettey Quarshie died on Christmas Day of 1892.