The Smart Generation Governance Hub (SGGH) has criticised the government, claiming that the recent reduction in cocoa producer prices is driving frustrated farmers into the arms of illegal miners.
In a formal appeal addressed to President John Dramani Mahama, the governance think tank urged the executive to immediately restore the Free On Board (FOB) price of cocoa to prevent a total collapse of the sector’s moral and environmental safeguards.
The petition, signed by Executive Director Rev. D. K. Odei-Appiah, expressed concern over the decision by some cocoa farmers threatening to abandon their ancestral lands or cede them to “galamsey” (illegal mining) operators following a sharp drop in their expected earnings.
“Disturbingly, some farmers have threatened to abandon their cocoa farms or cede them to illegal miners,” the statement read. “This poses a grave threat not only to the cocoa industry but also to Ghana’s broader agricultural sustainability.”
While the government maintains that the price adjustment—slashed recently from GH¢3,625 to GH¢2,587 per bag—was a necessary response to global market volatility, the SGGH argues the move is penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Rev. Odei-Appiah noted that the land degradation caused by galamsey is already manifesting in other sectors, citing the recent tomato shortages linked to both local land loss and insecurity in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
“The cocoa sector has already suffered considerable damage due to illegal mining activities, and any deliberate transfer of farmlands to galamsey operators would further worsen an already critical situation,” the hub warned.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
