A botanist has refuted long-standing claims that Tetteh Quarshie was the first person to introduce cocoa beans to Ghana, arguing that the crop was actually brought by Basel missionaries in the early 19th century.
According to him, the circumstances surrounding Tetteh Quarshie’s alleged transportation of cocoa beans from Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea) do not hold up when considering travel methods and seed preservation.
They said Tetteh Quarshie swallowed cocoa beans from Fernando Po to Ghana. By then, who travelled by air? You had to travel by sea, and from Fernando Po to Equatorial Guinea would take about sixty-seven weeks. Our stomach is not like that of a bird or a chicken, which, when they drop a seed from their stomach, it germinates. Our stomach would actually process the seed, and the heat alone in our stomach can destroy it.
He argued that the real importers of cocoa beans to Ghana were Basel missionaries, who brought not only cocoa but also other fruits as part of their missionary work.
It was the Basel missionaries [who brought cocoa to Ghana]. They came here for a mission, and they brought not only cocoa but other fruits so they could have food to eat during their work. They arrived here in the early 1800s.
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Tetteh Quarshie, an agriculturalist, has long been credited with introducing cocoa to Ghana after allegedly bringing seeds from Fernando Po. Unlike the popular theory claiming he swallowed the beans, extensive historical answers suggest he kept the beans in his tool box, as he was a blacksmith. Interestingly, historical records also indicate that he worked as an apprentice under Basel missionaries in his youth, suggesting he may have learned about cocoa cultivation from them.
Over the years, alternative theories have emerged, including claims that a Brazilian reverend was responsible for introducing cocoa to Ghana.