Cocoa farmers in Segyimase and Osino, Eastern Region, are pointing fingers at ‘galamseyers’ for the diminishing cocoa yields, attributing continuous illegal mining and seizure of cocoa plantations as major factors.
During interviews, some farmers cited poverty and governmental neglect as reasons pushing them to sell their cocoa farms to illegal miners.
Eno Lawrencia Akufo shared her distress at losing her cocoa plantation when her son sold it to illegal miners while she was away for medical reasons in the regional capital.
Opanyin Emmanuel Takyi, an opinion leader and former assemblyman, detailed how illegal mining has impacted 18 acres of his cocoa farms across three locations in Segyimase.
For the 2023/24 season, Ghana’s cocoa output is projected to fall nearly 40% short of the 820,000 metric tonne target due to soaring global cocoa prices reaching US$10,000 per tonne this year.
In the first four months of 2024, Ghana’s trade balance narrowed following a drop in cocoa exports, with year-on-year comparisons showing a 50% decrease in cocoa output.
Similar challenges are seen in Osino, where 40 to 50% of cocoa plantations have been sold to illegal miners, resulting in a 70% loss of cocoa farms to mining activities.
During a recent visit along the Accra-Kumasi Highway, reporters observed illegal miners actively working near former cocoa plantations, leaving deep, uncovered pits dangerously close to essential infrastructure like electricity poles and transmission lines.
In 2022, the Ghana National Small Scale Miners Association called for the arrest of individuals mining near the same highway, but a year later, the situation has worsened with extensive mining affecting the entire area, including beneath electricity poles left hanging.
