Abstract:
Cocoa farming provides employment for over 800,000 households in rural Ghana, with
the country currently touted as the second largest producer of cocoa worldwide. Agriculture is one of the
riskiest occupations for the eyes due to the numerous ocular hazards on farms. The authors conducted
an ocular health assessment among cocoa farmers at Mfuom, a rural community in the Central Region
of Ghana, to examine the ocular health status and the ocular safety measures used by cocoa farmers.
A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate demographic characteristics, ocular injuries, and uti-
lization of eye care services and ocular protection, and a clinical examination was used to evaluate
their ocular status. Cocoa farmers were at high risk for ocular injuries and farm-related vision disorders
and utilized eye care services and ocular protection poorly. Ocular condition identified were mainly
refractive error (28.6%), cataract (20.0%), glaucoma (11.7%), conjunctivitis (13%), pterygium (2.7%),
and cornea opacity (2.2%). There is a need for the introduction of an interventional eye care program
to help address the ocular health challenges identified among the farmers. This can be done through
collaborative efforts by educational institutions, government, and other role players in the agricultural
industry to improve the quality of life of the vulnerable cocoa farmers in rural Ghana.
