Ghana risks losing its long-standing title of being the second-largest producer of cocoa as some cocoa farmers have decided to give out their farmlands to illegal miners in exchange for money.
The unfortunate decision, according to these farmers, is as a result of the low monetary returns from their cocoa proceeds.
In an interview with an Accra-based media house, Citi TV, a cocoa farmer from Kwaebibirem in the Eastern Region lamented that the cost of farm inputs is affecting cocoa production, causing them to lose huge sums of money.
The farmer, in his native language, said, “we incur so much cost in farming and cultivating cocoa. The cost of cocoa can’t buy a gallon of oil. Why won’t farmers give out his/her farmland to galamseyers. Government has abandoned us so if galamseyers come to us for our lands we will give it out.”
Ghana’s key agricultural export, cocoa, is one of the cash crops raking in revenue for the country.
However, due to the activities of illegal miners and chemical residue that leaches into cocoa, state officials fear Ghana may not meet the requirement for exporting cocoa.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, on October 4, 2022, that the European Union, through a legislative instrument, intends on banning cocoa exports from Ghana and some other African countries.
Despite pragmatic measures put in place by the Akufo-Addo government, illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, still continues.
The illegality robbing the country of its forestry is not only discolouring water bodies and making them unsafe for consumption, but the activity is also taking a toll on farmlands as well.
Several farmlands have been abandoned and have been left with large pits by illegal small-scale miners.
That notwithstanding, these farmers have refused to rescind their decision in selling their lands to these scrupulous individuals.
The only way the government can intervene, according to farmers, is to invest in the sector and review the cocoa prices for the 2022/2023 season.
According to them, the recent upward adjustment is woefully inadequate.
In October, the government increased the farm gate price of cocoa beans by 21 percent, from GH¢660 to GH¢800 a bag.
However, the aggrieved farmers say selling a bag for GH¢800 amidst the current economic crisis is not profitable.
Source: The Independent Ghana