Source: AFP
Ghana, the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer, faces increasing risk to its crop — and a blow to its crisis-hit economy — from illegal mining and smugglers, industry officials, farmers and activists warn .
Top producers Ivory Coast and Ghana, along with other West African neighbors, produce two-thirds of the world’s supply of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate.
Along with gold and oil, the cocoa industry is the mainstay of Ghana’s economy and foreign exchange earnings.
Any revenue losses are being hit hard as the country struggles to overcome its worst economic crisis in decades.
But cocoa production is falling victim to illegal mining, mainly for gold and locally known as ‘galamsey’.
It is a major problem in Ghana despite government efforts to crack down and arrest those involved which include Chinese nationals.
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“For the past five years, we have been experiencing severe destruction of cocoa farms as a result of activities of illegal miners,” Michael Kwarteng, head of anti-illegal mining activities at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), told AFP.
“It has reached alarming proportions.”
Despite an incentive package to help producers raise the price of a bag of cocoa, farmers are accepting lucrative deals to sell land for illegal mining.
Source: AFP
Rita Abena Koranteng, a 45-year-old cocoa farmer in Suhum in the Eastern Region, said hard economic times prompted her to give up two old pieces of land for mining.
“Every month he pays me $500 and I’m happy with that because I’m not going to make that much money from my cocoa business,” she said.
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“I know some of my fellow cocoa farms in the Western Region and elsewhere have switched to rubber plantation now.”
Harvests decrease, hardships
The harvest has declined in recent years, affected by illegal mining, experts say.
About one million tonnes of cocoa was produced in Ghana in 2020-2021, according to COCOBOD.
It dipped to 750,000 tonnes for the 2022-2023 crop, while the forecast for next season is between 750,000 and 800,000 tonnes.
The government announced a 63 percent increase this year in cocoa prices — a bag currently sells for $114 and a ton costs $1,822.
“Farmers are giving their land to these illegal miners in exchange for huge sums of money,” Kwarteng said.
“So far, land lost to illegal mining now accounts for 2% of the total area under cocoa cultivation in Ghana.”
Sometimes cocoa farmers are even tricked into handing over land to illegal miners who claim to have government permission to operate on it, Kwarteng said.
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‘Time bomb’
Once considered an economic star and a beacon of political stability in the region, Ghana was forced into a $3 billion credit deal with the International Monetary Fund to shore up its finances.
Inflation is over 26%, while public debt has skyrocketed.
Its financial woes are weighing heavily on President Nana Akufo-Addo’s ruling NPP party as it prepares for elections late next year.
Source: AFP
Cocoa crops generate about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually, contributing significantly to government revenue and development.
In 2021, cocoa’s contribution to GDP in real terms was about $533 million, according to the 2022 Cocoa Sector Report by GCB’s Strategy and Research Department.
But illegal mining isn’t the only problem — smugglers also target the crop.
COCOBOD has begun offering cash rewards to whistleblowers who report illegal mining on cocoa land as well as bean smuggling, said Benjamin Tei Larweh, the board’s deputy director of communications.
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“In 2022, Ghana lost about 150,000 metric tonnes of cocoa beans through smuggling to our neighbors and that was a colossal $600 million in lost income,” he said.
Six main regions of Ghana grow cocoa, but due to fluctuating rainfall and declining soil fertility, production has moved west.
The Western Region is now Ghana’s main cocoa producer, accounting for 43 percent of the total.
But illegal mining has also increased at the same time in the region.
Obed Owusu-Addai, of EcoCare Ghana, which advocates for the welfare of farmers, said the government needed to do more to help improve prices and living standards.
“We are sitting on a ticking time bomb as a country,” Owusu-Addai said. “If this issue is not resolved immediately, we will end up losing most of our land to illegal mining.”
Source: AFP