By making use of the residue of the cocoa manufacturing process, these products can be processed and marketed locally, providing employment and income for rural people. Dried animals feed pellets formed from sliced fresh husks have been used quite successfully as a substitute for wheat bran to feed to pigs and rabbits.
Cost also becomes a major factor when a processor has to buy and collect husks from other farms.
An alternative is for farmers to slice fresh cocoa husks for mixing with dry feed ingredients, which is then milled and fed directly to pigs. This is currently being trialled as an alternative. To make potash, fresh husks are sun-dried and then incinerated in an ashing kiln. Although the potash can be used as fertiliser, the majority of potash produced from cocoa husks in Ghana has been used for soft soap manufacture. Fresh cocoa pulp juice, known as sweatings, has been used in the production of pectin, jelly, soft drinks and alcohol.