A Ghanaian botanist has boldly debunked claims Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa beans to Ghana.
According to the Ghanaian botanist, Tetteh Quarshie couldn’t swallow the cocoa beans from Fernan de po to Ghana.
He revealed that the human stomach is not like the stomach of a bird that after swallowing a seed it can still germinate.
He asserted that the heat in the human stomach would have destroyed the seed that they claimed Tetteh Quarshie swallowed from Fernan de po to Ghana.
Speaking to a group of tourists, the Ghanaian botanist stated, “They said Tetteh Quarshie swallowed the cocoa beans from Fernan de po to Ghana but then who travelled by air, you see you had to travel by sea, so you travel by sea from Fernan de po to Equatorial Guinea will take about 67 weeks, and you know our stomach is not like the bird or the chicken.
When they eat the seed and they drop it, it germinates, imagine our stomachs full of heat, even the heat alone can destroy the seeds, as for the birds the gizzard is mixed with sand so it helps the seed to become viable to germinate”.
“When you go to the farm you will see the Turkish berries, you will see that small pepper, they are very hot, and those small tomatoes who planted them?”, he added.
He clarified that the cocoa plant was introduced to the shores of Ghana by the Basil missionaries.
The Botanist stated further, “It was the Basil missionaries, so in your exams when they ask you a question who brought cocoa to Ghana, one Tetteh Quarshie, two the Basil missionaries, three Kwame Nkrumah when you go for Tetteh Quarshie mistake it was the Basil missionaries.
They came here for mission work, not only cocoa they brought a lot of fruits so that they can get some to eat, so that they can get the chance to do their mission work. I don’t know the year but the Basil missionaries came here early 18s”, he boldly claimed.
Ghanaians under the post have stated their opinion about who brought cocoa beans to Ghana saying, “ I have heard this somewhere before. History really has layers! It’s wild how some of the stories we grew up believing are more myth than fact. This Tetteh Quarshie revelation just shows how much of our history still needs to be unlearned and relearned”.
Another stated, “A lot of history has been shrouded in secrecy for a very long time. I am always happy to read scientifically proven narratives of what we have been made to believe”.
“A lot of African history is actually rubbish when you play it back. It meant to keep the African people limited”, a X user also added.
Additionally, another user boldly stated the botanist was right and that the Bassil missionary called Rev. Hass introduced the cocoa crop on the Gold Coast.
He wrote, “ He’s right. The Bassil missionary called Rev. Hass introduced the cocoa crop in the Gold Coast as one of the numerous ways of improving agricultural development as part of the Gold Coast’s economic development. Unless what we’re teaching the kids in History is wrong”.
Watch the video below:
Contrary to traditional Ghanaian legend of how Tetteh Quarshie brought cocoa beans to Ghana, a Ghanaian botanist has debunked the theory, stating that it was highly impossible.
He clarified that the cocoa plant was introduced to the shores of Ghana by the Basil missionaries.… pic.twitter.com/L13XSwK5fo
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) March 1, 2025
