YouTube star Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) has unveiled a major philanthropic project in Ghana aimed at helping children affected by child labour in cocoa-growing communities.
Known as Abna Dakwa Village, the nearly US$10 million community is located in Ghana’s Eastern Region and was developed as part of efforts to provide children with access to education, healthcare, clean water and other essential services.
The project reportedly took about one year of planning and eight months of construction.
A Community Built Around Education and Opportunity
Abna Dakwa Village includes a school designed to accommodate more than 300 students, alongside 10 homes for teachers.
The community also features a medical clinic, marketplace, clean-water systems, solar power infrastructure, agricultural facilities and fish tanks.
One of the project's key initiatives is providing students with free school meals for five years. The programme has support from The Rockefeller Foundation and is intended to encourage children to remain in school rather than enter hazardous forms of labour.
Tackling Child Labour in Cocoa Communities
The project comes amid ongoing discussions about child labour in West Africa's cocoa industry, where concerns have been raised about children's involvement in hazardous agricultural work.
MrBeast's philanthropic activities, together with initiatives connected to his Feastables brand, have increasingly focused on projects addressing social and economic challenges affecting children and communities.
The Ghana project is featured in his new video titled “I Built A City To Save Kids From Illegal Labor.”
The development of Abna Dakwa Village places education, healthcare, clean water and economic opportunity at the centre of efforts to support children and families in Ghana's cocoa-growing communities.
For many observers, the project represents a significant private philanthropic investment in a rural Ghanaian community and has drawn international attention to the challenges surrounding child labour and access to education.